The Anniversary (Open)

Lin Amakei had just returned from a visit to the 20th Rukon District. It was the area where she used to live with her parents, very long ago. And if you were to walk into a small bar on the west side of the Seireitai, in the dimmed corner of the bar, you'd spot a red headed shinigami with her head surrounded in tons of shot glasses. This, was Lin Amakei. Her Rukon visit was due to the date being the anniversary of her parent's gruesome death, a date that Lin couldn't help but drink on.

She had finished her work at the 9th Division early, napped for a bit, and eaten. Once the clock struck 12 a.m. Lin hit the bars around the Seireitai. When they closed, she'd walk, or rather stumble, to the next one that was open. It was now around 4 a.m. in the morning, and Lin was the only one besides the young bartender, in a bar called the Blue Butterfly. Lin was slumped over in her chair, face pressed to the cool wooden table. She hiccuped, scowling when she realized she developed a case of the hiccups. She briefly fell asleep, and in turn, was pulled into a her Inner World by her zanpaktou, Blitzkrieg. He tapped his foot impatiently and began to speak.

'Ikaaaaaa-chaaan, you can't get this drunk every time this date comes around!!! I know it's sad, but seriously, we have lots and lots of training to do if I wanna get more powerful...' He murmured, straightning his top hat like the vain spirit that he was. Lin hiccuped once again and looked up at him. "I can to get drunk everytime the anniversary arrives. They were my parents, Blitz....my parents!!!" Lin yelled, slurring some of her words. Blitz shook his head. And...and what do you mean that 'you' want to get more powerful? It's not like I wanna be weak and useless. Ya know, for a sidekick, your really mean..." Lin mumbled quietly. But it was loud enough for the prideful Blitz to hear.

His eyes widened, glaring at Lin's drooling face. "Suh...suh....sidekick?! Are you mad, Lin Ikara Amakei?! I'm not your damn sidekick!! I am a zanpaktou spirit, I gave you your power, you would be nowhere without m-" He yelled, but Lin abruptly shut him up by wailing in a amazingly depressing way. Blitz sighed, aware that if continued to yell at the drunken Lin she'd just cry louder. "Uhh Lin, calm down, caaaaaalm down, c'mon...don't....don't slam your head into the wall, it won't help. Lin! Liiiiiiiiin, stop it, stop that right now, you hear me???" He chided, trying to nervously calm down the wailing, upset Lin. Lin latched onto the zanpaktou spirits legs, briefly stopping her wailing.

"Can....can I go home now, Blitz-kun?" She mumbled. Blitz sighed, patting her head gently. "Mind you, your home isn't the bar, but yes, I suppose you should before you begin smashing your head into the wall again." He replied, his voice exhausted. She nodded and hugged her zan spirit briefly, and waved bye before she awoke at the bar table. Lin raised her head, hearing the bar entrance door quietly shut. She went to move towards the figure, but fell out of her chair. She sat on the floor, wiping drool from the side of her mouth. Lin squinted, noticing the figure looked somewhat familiar. "Hello?" She yelled towards the figure, waving wildly towards it. Her hair was a total mess, along with her outfit.

*just go to sleep, go to sleep!* not very motivational thoughts, ran through the head of the fifth division captain, Sebastian Sharpe. Dawn was slowly approaching and the captain had yet to get any solid sleep. Finally in a fit of frustration, Sebastian sat up in his bed and ran his hand through his messy hair. With the constant tossing and turning, Sebastian was restless and by this time in the morning, there as no point in forcing himself to sleep.

Sebastian got up from his bed and stretched, and then took a deep breath. “well now that I’m up, what should I so now?” he said to himself as he got dressed. Finally the captain got an idea, it wasn’t a great idea and he didn’t know how long it would keep him occupied but, something was better than nothing. The exhausted captain left his barracks and made his way towards the 20th Rukon District, there was no particular reason for going to this specific Rukon district but, Sebastian found it rather peaceful.

Sebastian paced up and down several streets till he finally came to a bar that he figured would be perfect to relax in. upon the captain’s entry to the bar he let out a slight chuckle at the sight of the ninth division’s third seat, Lin Amakei. He then rushed to bend down and help her back up after she stumbled out of her seat. “hello to you to, Lin. What are you doing out so late?” the light hearted captain said with a smile as he helped the young girl back into her seat.

Lin squinted, finally noticing the figure as he helped her into her her chair. "Ahhhh Captain...*hiccup*....how are you this fine afternoon?" Lin asked joyfully. She then heard the captain ask about why she was out so late at night. She ran one small hand through her pinkish-red hair, and sighed, setting her arms on the table. "Wait a minute....it's night time? Ohhhhh....that makes sense......anyways, i'm.....uhh....just out. Ya know, for drinks. Drinkies." Lin giggled, letting a bubbly smile towards the captain. She suddenly reclined and looked to her right. "Bartender!!! Bartender!!!" Lin yelled, clapping to get his attention. Lin did indeed have his attention, but the poor bartender was amazingly tired, and seeing that they didn't close to 5 a.m. he would have to deal with a whole 'nother drunken level of Lin. He finally approached the table. "Yes?" He said, wiping sleep from his eyes. Lin leaned forward, and looked him straight in the eye. Her expression was dead serious.


"Do you guys serve cereal?" Lin asked, her voice grave. The bartender sighed loudly. "No....we don't serve cereal here....ma'am..." He replied. Lin frowned and teared up. She set her head on the table in between her folded arms and began to cry rather pathetically. "I miss my parents......and cereal...." Lin moaned, her voice and her crying muffled. Lin rapidly sat up straght, then relaxed again, another drunken smile on her face. She began to quietly laugh while arranging the empty shot glasses into a smiley face around the table that had X's for eyes. She gasped as she looked at it after finishing. "I could....could uhhmm....be an artist....it looks just like me!1!" She exclaimed. She shook her head quickly, and a look of unknown surprise fillied her eye. "Ohhh I almost forgot to ask you, Captain, would you like a drink?" Lin offered the captain, waiting for his reply. In the meantime, she continued to arrange shot glasses.

After Sebastian had helped Lin back onto her chair, he decided to take a seat at the same table with her. An eyebrow raised when he was asked what brought him out *this afternoon?* he thought, he let it go when Lin corrected herself “I couldn’t sleep. Thought coming here would be a good way to pass some time.” he said.
He simply reclined back in his seat and watched Lin in her drunken state. The captain of the fifth division usually wasn’t one to laugh at the way people acted but, he found Lin’s actions and attitude rather amusing. Sebastian’s attention shifted from Lin to the poor exhausted bartender, and it made him think of how he himself couldn’t sleep.

Sebastian couldn’t help but laugh when Lin asked for cereal, but this wasn’t what made him laugh, what made him laugh was the reaction of the bartender. The captain’s cheery mood changed quickly when Lin began to sob a little and cry fro her parents…..and cereal. *Is today the day?* Sebastian thought as he looked at the poor drunken mess of a girl. It seemed Lin’s attitude was on the up and down as well, considering she let out a small gasp at the sight of her rearranged shot glasses, and followed it with a remark of becoming an artist. Sebastian was going to say something but, he was cut off, it was a good thing to cause he was now sure that what he was going to say, while it may have been funny, probably would have caused Lin to cry again. Sebastian was instead presented with a question.

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"Ohhh I almost forgot to ask you, Captain, would you like a drink?”

Sebastian shot the tired bartender a look and simply waved it off. “I’m good thank you though.” he said. There was a moment of silence as Sebastian watched Lin continue to rearrange the shot glasses, finally he got a bright idea, he got up from the chair and walked over to the bartender, and ordered two bowls of soup. Sebastian then walked back to the table and sat down.

Lin nodded at the captain's reply. "No problemo sir. I can't fall asleep either....I don't know why.." Lin said, her voice unexpectedly solemn. She waved her hand at thin air, as if to shoo the issue away from her mind. She proceeded to quickly overturned all the empty shot glasses, beginning to stack them in a pyramid-like formation. When the captain returned to the table with two bowls of soup, the expression on Lin's face was ridiculously enthusiastic.

"Why thank you, Captain." Lin said courteously as she grabbed her spoon. Lin sat for about 2 minutes just scooping up soup with the spoon, blowing the steam away to cool it, only to see the soup also be blown back into the bowl. She gave up on that method, and just started eating the hot soup. It burned Lin's mouth, but she was too drunk to notice it. She was still thinking about cereal, and her parents. She had loved both of them very much. A tired scoff interuppted her thoughts. "Lin, shouldn't you slow down on the soup? Your gonna burn your mou- actually never mind. Just go ahead." Blitzkrieg said to her. He was aware that he'd have to talk to Lin once again when she sobered up in the morning. And he'd get the same reply every year the morning after, as Lin rushed to her job in the 9th Division.

'Whatever Blitz, you know I don't drink, especially on that day.' she'd tell him in a matter-of-fact tone. Blitzkrieg was unsure if Lin was denying the whole issue, or if she got so drunk each year, that any memory of her smashed rampage was there at all. And despite the fact the Lin had been drinking since midnight, she would sober up after an hour or so, for some odd reason, unless she kept drinking even the smallest amount of alcohol. Lin thought about alcohol for a second. Wine, beer, wisky, ad her favorite, sake. A dazed smile appeared on her face at the thought of ordering another drink, but the warning of "Don't you even dare" from Blitz convinced her not to. Instead, she directed her attention away from the alluring thought of alcohol, and to the Captain sitting at the table. "How...uhhmm.....how are things at the....uhhh....5th division?" Lin asked, struggling to keep her actions at a normal level.

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"Why thank you, Captain.”

Sebastian simply smiled at the girl, he was considered one of the nicest captain’s in all of the Gotei 13, give or take a few others. Sebastian stared in disbelief at the girl’s appetite for the soup, she was slurping down the soup so fast, that she seemed oblivious to it’s temperature. *she’s gonna burn her mouth at this rate* the captain thought as he watched, he had yet to even dip his spoon into his bowl and already Lin was a third of the way done “you should slow down, you don’t want to burn yourself.” he said with a concerned tone.

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"How...uhhmm.....how are things at the....uhhh....5th division?"

Sebastian chuckled a bit “things are umm…a bit interesting you cold say.” he paused to take a two spoon full’s of soup and then continued “I finally received a vice captain, which is quite nice….how about you? How are they treating you in the ninth division?”

Lin yawned, her eyes growing tired. But she faught the sleepiness away with another spoonful of hot soup. She looked up at the Captain from her nearly empty bowl of soup, hearing him caution Lin about the temperature of the soup she was nearly wolfing down. She recognized that she was feeling quite a bit of pain. "Ouch.....that...that hurts." Lin said, half whimpiring and half still concerned with her soup. She looked at the tired bartender as her emerald eyes grew huge and welled up with tears, creating a very pouty effect. The look that Lin gave the bartender was enough to win even the most tired, serious person's heart over. The bartender walked over to the table, and Lin began to speak. "Sorry about bothering you again, bartender guy..." Lin mumbled, her voice genuine "But I neeeeed a glass of cold water.....or cold sake, because I feel like i'm on fire." Lin finished.

He nodded reluctantly, retrieving Lin some ice water. Judging by the poor guys earlier experiences with Lin's drunken behavior, he'd rather provide her with something that didn't restart the process over again. She nodded, smiling thankfully at him as he walked off. Lin turned back to captain to hear how his division was going. She nodded, paying attention the best her drunken mind could. Her thoughts weaved in and out of reality, but she could manage to listen to the captain respectively. She smiled as he asked about the 9th Division. "It's nice.....Captain Hisagi, he's great...and our new lieutenant is too. They're all nice. Wow.....it's been a really long time...since my days at the 3rd Division." Lin remarked, her voice full of spirit. She set her head down on the table and wrapped her arms around the hot bowl as if she was clinging to the warmth. She'd occasionaly take a drink of cold water to soothe her pain, but she was mainly a bit tired. She waited for the captan to speak, rather than posing another question for him.

Sebastian looked at Lin with a great deal of respect, regardless of her state of mind at the moment. Sebastian was just happy that his plans of staying up weren’t in vein, the captain leaned back in his chair and stretched a bit as Lin asked the bartender for a glass of ice water. Sebastian turned his attention back to his soup, peering over the rim as Lin spoke, he wasn’t trying to be rude but, the truth was, he was starving.

The fact that Lin let out a yawn, got the captain to do the same thing, funny how something non viral could be contagious. Sebastian’s eyes turned to a nearby window, a small bit of sun light was creeping it’s way through the window. The brown eyes of the captain wandered the room and eventually fell back upon the young 3rd seat shinigami, who seemed tired and worn out, it was most likely from the heavy drinking, mixed with the emotions of her parents. “come Lin, the day is beginning, lets go for a walk.” he finished the last bit of his soup and rose from his seat, offering the young girl a hand.

Lin took another sip of water as she rested her head on the table, arms still folded around the now cooled bowl of soup. Her gaze wandered from the bartender, to the captain, and finally to the open window. She shivered slightly as a cool breeze blew into the bar, as her flowery magenta kimono didn't cover up her shoulder. The sleeves were bunched up at her elbows and the edges of the kimono rested just above her knees. One of Lin's traditional wooden sandals sat near the bar door, while the other was barely on her foot. The only thing still in good condition after the bar rampage was her white kne length under-dress, which was secured by the small tie behind her neck. Her hair accesories were still placed in her hair, yet were terribly out of place. Lin narrowed her eyes as some of the sun rays peeked into the bar, slightly waking Lin from her exhaustion.

Lin smiled as she heard the captain mention the arrival of a new day, and to talk a walk. She nodded, taking his hand so she wouldn't fall like she did before. She stumbled forward, but quickly regained balance. Lin waved to the bartender, setting her payment, along with a generous tip on the table. She walked towards the bar door next to the captain, her head throbbing with some pain and now succumbing to what was called "a hangover". she slipped on her other wooden sandal, and opened the bar door for her and the captain as they walked out into the cold morning Seireitai. Lin blinked as she thought she heard the click of a lock and a relieved sigh. Some shinigami were walking about, those that wanted to get an early start on their work. She chuckled, as if Lin wasn't drunk, she would've been one of those shinigami. She shivered again, as the bar was much warmer. Her nimble fingers reached up to her head, were must of her hair was tied and concealed in a large yellow ribbon-like cloth. She pulled at the bow, and smiled as her deep pink-red hair was let loose. It ended just below her shoulders, and curled slightly at the ends. Her hair covered a small portion of her shoulders and back, keeping the wind from beating at her back. She looked up at the captain. "I guess I should say good morning..." Lin murmured with another dazed smile.

As the two left the bar, and stepped out into the new day light, Sebastian squinted his eyes as the light was blinding compared to the dark bar. Sebastian had no initial destination to walk to but, thought it would be a good idea to get Lin back to her barracks before she got in trouble. The two shinigami walked side by side down the road and occasionally Sebastian took a look a Lin to make sure she was ok. The captain noticed that Lin seemed cold, and to be honest it was, Sebastian could feel it. Without a second thought, Sebastian removed his captain’s haori and draped it over Lin’s shoulders.

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"I guess I should say good morning..."

Sebastian gave Lin a smile “Good morning”. as the two continued to walk towards the ninth division barracks, many passing shinigami gave Sebastian and Lin odd looks, most likely cause they knew Sebastian was a captain and yet Lin was wearing the haori.

Lin yawned slightly, but quickly blinked as she saw the captain remove his haori, and place it on Lin's shoulder. She was about to protest, as Lin thought of the haori as something that symbolized power and responsibility. Lin didn't know what to say, as if she refused, she'd look cold and stupid. Lin accepted the captains kind gesture anyways. "Thanks Captain, though the cold isn't that bad, really. I'm probably just being overly sensitive to it." Lin stated, giggling. Her eyes averted the odd stares of the shinigami that walked by, but it didn't really bother her. Lin had a reputation for being a very strange girl, as she had even been spotted watching people from rooftops before.

She sighed, the sun rising behind both the captain and the 3rd seat, casting long shadows on the stone path beneath them. A soft voice spoke in her mind. "I see your not lying on the ground passed out this year, Lin....must not have drank enough..." Blitz mumbled tentatively. Blitz knew why she had stayed out drinking for so long. It was slightly difficult to get Lin drunk, yet she was easy to sober up, which was precisely why she continued to drink til' she passed out. Lin's deep pain caused her to drink so bad, as she never wanted any memory of each anniversary when it passed. It was also the piling denial of drinking that caused her to drink more and more each year. 'Blitz.....i'll stop drinking on the anniversary.' She replied.

Blitz snorted. 'Nonsense, Lin, you should know by now that you can't fool me.' He uttered. Lin huffed, knowing he was right. 'Okay then.....i'll cut down...." Lin replied, her pledge genuine. Blitz was silent for a second. 'That's good...Ika-chan.' Blitz mumbled, attempting to be fully understanding. In truth, it was very hard for Blitz to express care. He was naturally vain and shallow, though Lin did help him grow to slightly more accepting state of mind. Lin chuckled at the little nickname that Blitz addressed her by, as for some reason he liked her middle nam, Ikara, better then her first name. Lin switched focused from the conversation with her zanpaktou spirit, to the 9th Division headquarters in front of them.

She turned to the captain, and began to speak. "I really should thank you again, Captain. You kinda kept me from going overboard this year with the drinking...." Lin admitted to him. She smiled as she leaned up, gently taking the haori from her shoulders and putting it back on his. "And you really didn't have to put the haori on my shoulders." Lin exclaimed playfully. "I hope to see you around more frequently, Captain." She said, her voice soft. With that, Lin bid the captain farewell, waving goodbye as she walked back to her division. Lin knew she'd have to learn to live with the pain of her parent's death, without getting smashed each year.

{Exit}

As the two were making their way to the ninth division barracks, Sebastian’s mind began to think of what he was going to do with this day. Before he knew it, they had made it to the ninth division. Sebastian simply raised his hand at Lin’s thanks, as if to say don’t worry about it. He took his haori back and slipped it on as Lin made her farewell.

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"I hope to see you around more frequently, Captain."

Sebastian nodded “any time Lin.” with that, he watched the female shinigami disappear behind the doors of her barracks and with that Sebastian turned around and headed back to his own.

{EXIT}
[TOPIC END]