Be Still My Heart [Kyo, Mizu]

With everything happening on both Earth and in the Seireitei, Kyo had certainly been busy as of late. It had been no small disappointment that his date with Mizu had to be postponed, but neither of them were the sort to put aside their duties simply on account of personal plans. Now, however, it seemed things had settled into relative stability, and they'd finally found a free evening. So it was that Kyo found himself arriving at the 2nd Division's barracks, dressed in proper finery that he didn't toward in casual settings.

He may have been a confident man, but this particular date had put a faint self-consciousness into Kyo, one he wasn't entirely used to. Perhaps it was the circumstance, the fact that he'd had little choice but to mature in recent months, or maybe it really was just the woman in question. He didn't want to think too much on all that, though. Getting into his own head would only ruin the atmosphere, after all. Taking a deep breath, Kyo straightened up, fixing his hair and looking up at the clouds as he thought about the advice he'd received from his sister and his parents.

Well...he was glad he had some experience of his own on this front, and certainly glad he'd arrived a little bit early. It gave him a moment or two to collect his thoughts on the matter.

Mizu was a bundle of nerves as she waited in her office in the Second Division Barracks, and had been since her and Kyo hammered out a new date for their date. With everything that had happened both here in Seireitei and on Earth, it was a wonder the two had even managed to find time for something so personal but Mizu was grateful they had. Even though when Kyo had first asked she had almost gone into shock, every minute after it was something she looked forward to.

On the day of the date Mizu had spent the morning with her two sisters, who drowned her in a deluge of advice. This was, after all, her first date ever. Interspersed between heartfelt and sincere counseling the duo managed to tease her as well which further reddened the already-cherry red Mizu. Later on they helped her pick out a dress for the date and do her makeup. The entire process felt like a whirlwind to Mizu who was beginning to think her sisters were more excited about her evening than even she was.

Hours later, now wholly ready but also still red in the face, Mizu waited patiently in her office for Kyo to arrive. Her stomach was full of butterflies and her head in the clouds. Finally, it was time. Standing from her chair, which she must have anxiously sat in and stood up from a hundred times over the last hour, Mizu made her way from her office and through the emptied hallways of the Barracks until she reached the entrance they'd agreed to meet at.


Stepping out of the Barracks was a Mizu Morikawa transformed. No longer was she trapped within a bulky black Shihakushō; in the old Mizu's place was a woman of both serenity and beauty, ravishing within a dress she usually couldn't imagine wearing; her hair was done more carefully and intricately than usual, and a thin layer of makeup completed her metamorphosis from cute to elegant. Her golden eyes set on her date for the evening and she forced out a sentence through the frog in her throat.

"You look very handsome tonight, Kyo-san. N-not that you don't always..."

Kyo had of course been prepared for his date to look lovely. He'd be a bit embarrassed to admit it, but he'd already imagined what she would look like once or twice as he was getting ready for the evening. However, any of his own imaginings had been ultimately based on seeing Mizu within the context of the usual work attire. He'd been ill-prepared to see her in this far more flattering kind of dress, and Kyo flushed a bit as he greeted the small woman with a smile.

"Thank you, Mizu-san. You're absolutely breathtaking yourself!"

He was as exuberant as always, even if he was a little bit nervous about this date of theirs. She'd really caught him off guard, but Kyo was a focused man, so he had no intention of letting that throw him off for the rest of the evening. Holding out a hand confidently, not wanting to let his nerves show, he looked down at his much smaller date to properly greet her and start the evening.

"Shall we go, then?"

Just when she had started to turn a more normal color, Kyo just had to hit Mizu with that compliment. She blushed profusely when he did and looked at the ground, temporarily unable to meet his stare. "T-thank you, Kyo-san, honestly I owe it all to my sisters...they have, um, a better idea about this kind of thing than I do." she squeaked out. Whew, it's going to be a tough night Mizu. Hold it together.

Out of the corner of her eye Mizu noticed Kyo's hand extended out to her. When she lifted her gaze and met his again, a warmth spread through her. His confidence, even while hiding nerves, inspired her own. He really is like his own Sun. she thought. Before she realized, her lips had broken into a wide giddy smile as she felt her nervousness melt away. Mizu reached out and grasped his bear paw of a hand, her much smaller fingers intertwining with his, and turned to leave her barracks behind.

"Absolutely!"

"Oh? I'm in much the same boat! My older sisters spent quite a while making sure I looked the part for tonight. I thought I might never hear the end of it, but I know they meant well, and I'm grateful for their help."

Of course, he had to imagine that Mizu's family didn't approach these things like the Sawachika did. Most households would presumably treat the preparations for a date with care and a gentle touch, and in some respects, the Sawachika did that as well. But their idea of "care" was as intense as anything else was. Kyo had a good eye for aesthetic, but when faced with Miki's cold glare and assurance that what he'd chosen was completely insufficient, what could he do but acquiesce to her better judgement?

Ah, but thoughts like that slipped from his mind as Mizu took his hand in hers, For a moment or two, all that he could think was that he'd have liked to cut short their walking together, simply so he could instead pick her up. That, however, would have been a bit much even for Kyo. He was a bold man, certainly, but there was a difference between boldness and impertinence.

"What are your sisters like?"

As he spoke, Mizu looked up at her comically larger date with curious and attentive eyes. She still didn't know a tremendous amount about his family, besides what he had shared at the Sawachika estate, but she was surprised to learn his sisters had helped so much in his preparations for tonight. He seemed like the type to do it all himself, either out of confidence or a strong sense of masculinity. The fact he accepted and appreciated their help drew a smile to her face. She liked that about him. "They have good taste! I would enjoy meeting them some time, Kyo-san."

When Kyo asked about Mizu's sisters, she took a second to consider the best way to describe them. With how big the Morikawa family is, Mizu was often surprised by just how different almost all of them are from each other. She looked forward as her face scrunched into a serious look for a moment before she answered him. "Well...Mika couldn't be more different from me. She is a true prodigy!....but she sure doesn't act like one. She isn't always open about it, but Mika is a free spirit. She doesn't like being forced to be the face of the family. Mitsuki-ane is somewhere in the middle. She's proud to be a Morikawa, but she still has a life of her own. How about your own sisters, Kyo-san? What are they like?"

"Would you? Next time I see them, I'll ask if they'd like to meet you!"

Kyo was aware that a willingness to actually introduce Mizu to his family was different from how he'd originally approached all this, but he was more confident in Mizu's ability to deal with the Sawachika energy, and perhaps as importantly, he'd accepted that she would have to meet them at some point or another. There wasn't any reason to fear that, and Nao had proven that his fear was born at least in part of a doubt in his own family. That didn't sit well with him.

"Miki, the oldest, reminds me of our mother. She's quiet, composed, and a lot of people usually think she's the gentle sort because of that, but she can fight with the best of them! I've never beaten her in a match in my life. Ah, then there's Shino, she's not quite as inclined to fighting or anything like that. She tends to pursue the arts in a quieter way, cloistering herself away to draw for a long while. A far cry from Nao, certainly. She's the most outspoken of the three girls in the household, certainly, always looking to improve, and she's been pushing me a great deal since she heard of my ambitions for captaincy. Then again, she's always been pushing me, even since I was young, so that certainly hasn't changed. She and I are quite close."

It was obvious, Kyo knew, that he was saying far more about Nao than he had about Miki and Shino. But, really, what else could he say? Though all of the Sawachika were a tightly-knit household, some of Kyo's earliest memories were at Nao's side, and she'd given him no small amount of guidance through the years. It was only right that he speak a bit more about her.

With a nod and a smile, Mizu gratefully accepted Kyo's offer to ask his sisters about meeting her. Even though the idea of meeting his family was intimidating, particularly because of how he described his parents, it was a challenge she was more than willing to meet head-on. And if he wanted to meet her family, Mizu was ready for that as well....even if she was confident Mika would try embarrassing her. She supposed that was just the natural thing for a younger sister to want to do.

Mizu was hardly shocked to hear Kyo's siblings could hold their own. The Sawachika family as a whole sounded like a very robust group of people to her. The Morikawas, however, were so different it was scary! Much of her family was similar to Miki in a few ways, being regal and composed, and a bit on the quieter side. In many ways her own family sounded more like what one might expect from nobility than Kyo's did, and his family is actual nobility.

Differences between their families aside, one person stuck out as someone Mizu would absolutely love to meet. "I don't mean to have a favorite before even meeting them, but Nao-san sounds wonderful! I am glad you are close with her, she sounds like a good influence. Between the two of us, you will have to become a Captain!" said Mizu, her words accompanied by a lighthearted giggle.

A sense of relief washed over Kyo as Mizu seemed so enthusiastic to meet Nao, losing a bit of tension that he hadn't even been fully aware had been sitting in his chest. After all, wouldn't any man be a bit worried that two of the most important women in his life wouldn't get along? His smile only grew at Mizu's excited encouragement, and he held her hand just a touch closer as they neared the Onyx Fountain Inn. He'd asked around extensively as to the best possible place to bring a date, rather than relying simply on his own knowledge, and it seemed even the Captain Commander visited this place for lunch somewhat regularly. He'd been a bit hesitant to pick this place, knowing his own father had designed the building, but that wasn't his reasoning, so he had no intention of letting that influence things.

"Have to, eh? Well, I wouldn't be much of a man if I disappointed after so much confidence in me!"

The Inn was now before them, and even with how focused he was on the date, he couldn't entirely help but study his father's design for the building. Dark wood, with impressive overhangs that shaded the whole building and gave it the same atmosphere as a thick grove of trees.

"I hope everything here's to your liking, Mizu-san. I've only ever heard wonderful things about this place!"

In response to Kyo clutching her hand tighter, if ever so slightly, Mizu squeezed his in return. Though the evening had just started, she was thrilled with how it was going; granted, she had nothing to compare it to. This could be better, worse, or the same as typical dates, Mizu had no way to analyze it. All she knew was this was the happiest, most nerve-wracking night of her life.

Onyx Fountain Inn. Mizu couldn't say she knew a thing about this place. It looked lovely to her, though Kyo could have taken to a dumpster and she would probably think the same. Still, it was an impressive building. Beautiful, even. In a naturalistic sort of way. Given her family's lack of true nobility coupled with live-in chefs, she hadn't really ever spent time in Seireitei restaurants or hangout spots. Now as an adult, all her time and efforts were dedicated to the Gotei. Such frivolous things were best left to nobles or Gotei members with more of a social life, not a girl like her.

Yet here she was.

Mizu turned and looked up at Kyo to respond "It looks pretty amazing! Like a restaurant hidden inside a forest. Want to head inside, Kyo-san?"