Who is Queen? [Shishiyuki, Kasha]

Despite the hideous nature of the wound beneath the bandage, Shishiyuki did not react in any manner other than simply studying it for a moment, before covering it once more. She had been curious, but that curiosity was more than sated. She wasn't the sort to dig up one's trauma further.

Of course, once she had done so, she responded to Kasha's comment with what she considered the only appropriate response, an action that was in fact relatively common from her, though typically directed toward the much younger members of the family; a gentle kiss to the forehead.

"I am honored that you would share this with me, and I will certainly never tell a soul of it."

Well, that was impressive. She personally thought it would cause even a little bit of expression but what should she have expected from such a composed woman? This really was just that, Kasha didn't really get caught up in her past - it had happened, it isn't something to be caught up on. Especially not when she was this old and it was so far gone.

"Well, thanks for kissing me I suppose. Not exactly what I meant but I guess it'll do."

She figured that she ought to reciprocate, it was only polite right? Usually when someone kissed you, you kissed back and so Kasha grabbed the woman by the chin and coaxed her head down to reciprocate the kiss on the woman's forehead. Life was a give and take after all.

"Anyway, thanks for putting it back on. It's designed to keep it at bay. Otherwise this face wouldn't be so pretty."

"I do apologize if it was disappointing, but I have no intention of handing away my first kiss in such a situation as this. Perhaps it is remarkably childish an outlook on these things, but it is something I put a bit of value on."

And, frankly, Shishiyuki doubted that it would ever be anything more. She could not particularly see this elder Kasha in a romantic sort of light, though she hardly saw much of anyone in that light. Makoto was ostensibly an outlier, if the younger Kasha was to be believed. She doubted that, but that was hardly here or there.

"Then I would certainly not think to see it removed again. Knowing for even that briefest moment is more than enough."

"Hmm? Ohohoho, I almost want to tease you for how cute that is. Fine though, but if you ever change your mind or don't care about the second kiss..."

She trailed off before chuckling again, respecting the boundary set. It tied back to that coercion thing, not a chance was getting a single kiss worth the fact it'd betray her entire core and they were very different people ultimately. Maybe she was a bit more of a hedonist who did not put high expectations or value on things, sentiments and all that compared to Shishiyuki. That was her choice though.

"So who's it going to anyway? Not someone called Kasha it would seem, is there a special someone you have in mind that you're saving it for?"

It felt like a decent way to take the topic rather than lingering on a past that she didn't bother to be weighed down by. This was in the present after all.

"I will promise the second to you, then."

It was something that could have been said so casually as to not even be worth speaking about, but Shishiyuki had meant it quite genuinely. Her first kiss was saved for the one who she came to love, but she was willing to give the second to someone who she had so quickly come to respect. Someone who, in another life, would have done her the greatest possible honor. Ah, well.

"Perhaps. There is a woman that I think I ought to speak to when she next returns to Soul Society. I doubt you would be surprised to hear it, but I know quite little of matters of the heart, romance and passion and all the like. I could hardly pretend I know exactly where she and I stand. Your student holds that I am in love with her, but I am not convinced of that just yet."

Of course, it wasn't off the table at all, and if it had been, Shishiyuki would have said so. But to her, being in love with near anyone was "on the table." Either of the Kashas, so far as she was concerned, were every bit as likely to steal her heart as Makoto. In a vacuum, anyway. She had been through a bit more with her own student, after all.

"Ohoho, that's sweet of you."

She leaned back and thought about the next bit of information, it did seem like her student to be blunt like that. As far as matters of romance, she was pretty useless. It wasn't like she was going to talk to this woman like she was an expert on something she never really settled with. Any relationships she had tended to not last long in her tenure of life and nowadays she couldn't care less about settling down with another person.

Not that she was opposed to it. It just never struck her, she wasn't the sentimental type after all.

"So what are you going to do? Just walk up and kiss her? Lay your feelings out on the table? I dunno, confessions aren't my strong suit. I'm not really into people for a lot besides a fight and maybe something else to follow."

"No, certainly not the former. I doubt she would appreciate that bold an approach, even assuming that I do indeed have such feelings for her. I suppose there is little else to be done but be straightforward. Ask about her feelings, explain my own in turn. Perhaps it isn't anything particularly romantic, but I feel she is the sort that would prefer that to some sort intricate dance of courtship."

It was almost as if Shishiyuki were offering some sort of concession in the discussion, speaking about the whole ordeal as if there were no alternative outcome but that she would, indeed, find that she was in love with Makoto. Was that the case? Well, she didn't pretend to know for certain. But there was very much a sense of understanding that, if it was indeed the case, it would mark a change in her life that she could not ignore.

"We will see, I suppose. I have heard it said that overthinking these sorts of things only spoils them."

"Huh, well I do. Ain't no point if you ain't go any balls on you in my opinion."

Though that was just her, she didn't know this chick that Shishiyuki was talking about but she did agree. Overthinking anything spoiled it, you know? She was a KISS kind of girl, keep it simple shithead.

"You're right, no point thinking about what-ifs. Though personally, thinkin' about anything is a drag. Should try just going with the flow, you know, play with your instincts a little bit more than just fighting. It's nice to be a bit carefree rather than getting caught up on nitty gritty things in life."

"That hardly surprises me, but I would not say that you are much like she is."

Not that that was a good or a bad thing. It was just an observation, as far as Shishiyuki was concerned. Realistically speaking, she was willing to assume that she would be in the exact same situation with Kasha had the two of them interacted as she and Makoto had.

"I rather enjoy thinking things through at times. Not all things, but there is a level of catharsis to be found in introspection."

"I suppose for some people it might be though, never really gotten much out of it though."

Kasha did things because she wanted to and or couldn't, if she could not do it then she would probably persist to anyway out of stubbornness to procede forward and get her way. That's the kind of woman she was, taking time to think and contemplate a course of actions. Weigh up gain and consequence was another step in an otherwise very effecient method of living.

"Though if it's carthatic for you, good enough a reason. Though you think too much on something and you can get down some pretty shitty rabbit holes or find things you don't like about yourself."

Her on the other hand, she knew she had shit qualities and she knew she had good ones but to bang her head over thinking she should change because of how she thought other people might think of her negative attributes was counter to her own beliefs. So screw everyone else in that sense.