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Post by Seto Tetsuya on May 5, 2015 17:28:24 GMT -6
"Breaking the Ice":Vale walked down the stairs, to the flower shop below his apartment. He propped the door open to the shop, letting the fresh air blow around the shop. He sighed as he walked around the shop, tapping the flower pots and checking to see if they needed watering. "Hello, little lovelies." It had been nearly a month since he had regained his memories. Yet, he had felt no differently than he had without them. Vale shook his head, freeing himself of thoughts of getting caught. He had his memories and didn't want anyone to know. "You guys can keep a secret, can't you?" Taking notice of a leaning bud in a small pot, Vale smiled warmly and walked over to the small crimson colored pot. "Is my secret too heavy for you to bear?"
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on May 6, 2015 9:49:46 GMT -6
“What secret?” Yumiko called out from the doorway, arms full with a covered bowl.
Her relative ease at the gathering had led her to come here after returning to Karakura again. Over the past year, she had rarely visited alone or stayed too long. She had needed the distance to keep the promise she had made to herself at the park. The vow to let the unresolved feelings of Las Noches to fade away.
Now, she wanted to change that - if she could. Today was another step. She waited in the doorway and held the bowl up, revealing the mound of muffins. “I hope it’s not too early,” she continued. “I made a few extra when I made some for Kenji at the shop."
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Post by Seto Tetsuya on May 6, 2015 11:31:11 GMT -6
Vale turned quickly to face Yumiko. He smiled, welcoming her company and treats. "Secrets for the flowers, Miss Ryouma." He pulled out a chair and beckoned her over. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" he asked, walking over to a box of supplies and tools. "I haven't seen you around for sometime. Not that I ever visit , myself."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on May 6, 2015 12:52:29 GMT -6
Yumiko smiled in return. "You're busy with flowers most of the year, Vale. I don't think anyone blames you for staying in your own space." She shrugged to his question as she set the muffins down and sat down at the table, spreading her skirt out to keep in from wrinkling. "And I don't really have a 'special' reason. I simply wanted to. Is that alright?"
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Post by Seto Tetsuya on May 6, 2015 13:06:32 GMT -6
Vale smiled and nodded. "It's quite alright with me, Miss Ryouma. I could use some company that talks back." He pulled a small green rod and some wire from the box and walked back to the table. Staring at the pot for a moment, Vale smiled and looked at Yumiko. "Do you mind? I could use an extra set of hands."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on May 6, 2015 13:11:05 GMT -6
Yumiko smiled. "I don't mind at all," she replied. "I'd love to help, actually." She paused. "I never told you but I really enjoy gardens and flowers. I try to help with the shop's but Tessai beats me most of the time - since I don't have a set schedule."
"Well, you should visit more." said Vale, sliding the pot across the table. "I could always use the help." Vale pulled the leaning rose upright and placed the small green rod beside it. "Now, can you hold this little beauty up for me?"
Yumiko nodded and copied his position, holding the rose gently. "I think I would like that, when I have the time. I am going to start to face my past - well, move past it. A certain gathering with Kita helped me realize I could."
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Post by Seto Tetsuya on May 6, 2015 13:55:42 GMT -6
Vale slowly wrapped the green wire around the stem and rod. "Miss Kita seems to be good at that sort of thing. Orihime too." He pulled on the wire, until it snapped. Then, looked to Yumiko. "Okay. Let's see is she stands." He watched as Yumiko slowly let go the rose.
"May I ask a question? It's pretty personal"
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on May 6, 2015 14:00:21 GMT -6
Yumiko nodded, eyes on the rose, worried it would fall again. She looked at it for a few more minutes and then back up at Vale. "What is it?"
"What are you running from?" he asked. "I mean, things for you couldn't have been that bad. And, even if they were, is it worth running from? Face it."
Yumiko considered changing the subject or dodging the root of that question, but instead, she lowered her head to figure out how to reply. "That's a complicated question," she finally murmured. She stood, needing to move around, and walked deeper into the shop. Finally, she kneeled next to an iris in mid-bloom. "I suppose I did run away. But it was too much to deal with.... It tore me apart once, and I didn't want that to happen again. I was dangerous." Her hand lifted to tuck a lock behind her ear.
For a moment, her mind flashed to the echoes of laughter and blood when she'd run from Vale. She'd cut everything down.... and she didn't know what happened in the first, more terrifying blackout. The one after Orihime's words.
She sighed and pulled a small weed trying to wrap around a daisy and stood with the small plant in her hand. "I needed the space running gave me. I knew I couldn't run forever."
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Post by Seto Tetsuya on May 6, 2015 15:17:22 GMT -6
"I was something you ran from?" asked Vale. "Miss Kita told me I hurt her friends. Orihime told me what I did to her." Vale looked away. "I can only assume that you were the other." Vale began to tap on the table. "Right?"
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on May 6, 2015 15:51:57 GMT -6
Yumiko sighed with a slight smile and walking back over. She touched his arm. "You hurt others more than you ever did me," she stated quietly. She moved her hand away. "You started out being a nice person, and then you flip-flopped. You hurt both Orhime and Kita and I was furious at you for it. I was wrestling with a betrayal from someone else - something that cut me to the core - and you were amused by it. And then, for no reason I understand, you shifted how interacted with me. In the end," she chuckled and stood again, turning to look at a climbing rose on a trellis nearby, "the hurt from the king of our enemy and the confusion and anger towards you became a black hole inside me. It swallowed me and it didn't let me go." She caught a falling petal. "So I let it fade. It was the only way to be free."
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Post by Seto Tetsuya on May 6, 2015 16:00:52 GMT -6
"I started to care..." he whispered. Vale turned and looked at Yumiko, forcing a weak smile. Yumiko looked at him puzzled. "Can I tell you something, without becoming upset or...Or fearful of me?" He leaned against the table behind him, his head hung. "I would like to share something with you. But...But, I don't know if it will help either of us."
She frowned slightly, still holding the petal in her hand. "If you think it will hurt you or me, why-" she shook her head and closed her hand around the petal, turning to face him. Seeing his turmoil, she smiled. "If you want to tell me, you can," she responded.
"I'm telling you because I trust you, Miss Ryouma...Yumiko." Vale sighed and pushed himself off of the table. He walked over and stood in front of her. He shook his head, unsure of how to say what he needed to. Looking to her, Vale smiled. "I am happy that you have decided to bare you thorns..."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on May 6, 2015 16:25:30 GMT -6
It took her a moment to realize it and when she did, her heart jolted. He wore the same warm smile but that phrase…. it proved that he- She took a breath, staying calm. He had said he trusted her. But…. “How much do you know?” she asked, glancing down to the rose petal in her hand.
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Post by Seto Tetsuya on May 6, 2015 16:33:47 GMT -6
Vale sighed and took a step back. "Everything, unfortunately..." He shoved his hands deep in his pockets, as he continued to back away from her. He bumped into the table behind him. "Everything. I...I make no excuses, Miss Ryouma. Yumiko." He looked to her for a brief moment. "I know what I did to Kita. To Orihime. To you. I know how it felt to...To finally have you. To care. Then, to have that feeling taken from me."
Vale turned his back to Yumiko. "I know that telling you this could turn out very badly for me. But...I don't know."
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Post by Yumiko Ryouma on May 6, 2015 16:48:44 GMT -6
Yumiko looked over at him. Deep inside, two urges were pricking her conscious, to run and tell Kita or Kisuke - to lock him up for the evil he had done, or wait - talk to him. She still wanted to understand him. Yumiko cast her eyes towards the flower-strewn floor, opening the hand with the rose petal in it and mind turning to the accusations Ashimitsu used against Gin. How Kita stayed by him. Her eyes drifted shut as she closed her hand over the petal once again. It wasn’t the same but….
She looked to Vale again, and shortly, he looked back at her. The honest, hurting gaze tore her up inside. She couldn’t tell. She hesitated and then walked over, touching his cheek for a moment. “Vale, I don’t know what we had.” He cheeks flushed as she recalled that night with him, from the near-violent demands, leaving, and then her surrender. She let her hand fall.
“But… unless something happens, I will keep your secret, and I want to stay your friend. If I am that.” As her stomach rumbled from her light breakfast, she offered him a soft, apologetic smile. “Please understand that I can’t go back to that time.”
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Post by Seto Tetsuya on May 6, 2015 17:12:43 GMT -6
"Yumiko..." Vale sighed. "I'm not sure that you even want to. Or, ever wanted to. You gave in because I was a reprieve from Aizen. I'm not sure you've ever felt anything for me." Vale gently took her hand and opened it. "I care for you, Yumiko." He took the petal out of her hand. "I'm kind of hoping you feel something. You've always said you won't go down that road. Whatever road this is. You've said it before. A part of me believes that. The other part feels like an idiot for feeling the way I do."
Putting the petal in his pocket, Vale turned away from Yumiko and picked up a few empty pots. "If you feel something, I'm not going to sit around waiting for you to figure it out."
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