"I'm bo-ored."

"..."

"Oi, Aikura-chan, want to play a game?"

"No."

"Aww, please?"

"I do not have time for your childishness, Shirosaki-san."

"But I'm bored!"

"Whine to Kurosaki-san about that. Just leave me alone."

"King? He's 'busy'. Ya know, with Rukia-chan."

Aikura tried not to shift uncomfortably as Shiro scooted altogether too close for comfort, grinning in his usual maniacal manner. She kept her face impassive, eyes fixed on the volume she held in her hands, trying desperately to stay absorbed in the words on the page.

With the Hollow right next to her, it was becoming very difficult.

And yet, however much she may have looked like Rukia- albeit with much lighter hair and eyes- she prided on having far more self-restraint than her Shinigami counterpart. Rukia had once commented that that was probably the only thing she (Aikura) was proud of, saying that she needed to work on building her self esteem. Aikura was not concerned. She wanted nothing. She needed nothing. She wasn't even particularly sure why Rukia and Ichigo had deigned to give up their bodies to their darker counterparts that day.

"I know!" Shirosaki jumped up happily, clapping his hands together. Her eye twitched. "Let's play the cutting game!"

"No."

"Why not, Aikura-chan? I like to cut people, you like to cut people, so we should cut each other!"

"Because Kuchiki-sama will kill the both of us if we damage their bodies."

"We can take her. You can just erase her memory of the incident with that scythe o' yours, right?"

Aikura settled for ignoring him. He stood up and paced the room, ranting about how much he hated that the King restricted his powers while he used his body. Obviously, he was a complete moron that lacked any sense; he should have known by then that her scythe completely erased someone's existence, and it was very difficult to break its power, as Ichigo had.

As a matter of fact, said scythe was currently very tempting- but Rukia had restricted her power as well.

After ten minutes or so, Shirosaki flopped down onto the couch next to her, and was trying to read over her shoulder. After a while, his grin broke out again.

"Never pegged you for the romantic type, Aikura-chan."

For some unbeknownst reason, Aikura felt the need to justify herself to him. "The syntax of the language is educational. And besides, Kuchiki-sama recommended it."

"Sure she did. And I'm sure that reading about two vampires sucking face is very educational. Trying to learn something?"

Restraint, Aikura, she told herself. Breathe.

His hand caught her chin, forcing her to look into his yellow eyes, burning with madness.

"Aww, Aikura-chan..." That smirk, she decided, was probably capable of inducing brain damage in children. "You know if you wanted help in that department, all you had to do was ask."

Resisting the temptation to make a snarky retort, she twisted her head out of his grip, folding the book shut in a seemingly serene manner.

"I don't like them," he said suddenly.

She didn't respond, merely stood and headed for the kitchen. What was that drink that Rukia was always telling her to have to calm down? Hot chocolate? Appropriate, considering the freezing cold weather.

Shirosaki followed her; his footsteps made no sound on the floor, but his dark and heavy reiatsu wasn't difficult to track. "I don't like your eyes," he continued. "They're too dead."

Suddenly, before she could react, his hand had encircled her wrist, misinterpreting her intention in the kitchen, and guided her over to the cutlery drawer. Her face tightened when he pulled out a pairing knife and promptly placed in her fragile, pale hand.

"I have already told you no," she said, her voice cold. "We are not to damage our containers."

Shirosaki rolled his eyes. "Oi, King!" he said to the empty air. They both heard the faint response resonate through their minds. Aikura sighed, realizing that they had connected their inner worlds yet again, spending some time with one another.

"What, Shiro?"

"Can we cut each other? Just little cuts. Stuff like that. Only a few."

"Hell no! Are you nuts?"

"Why not? Aikura-chan needs it. She's a zombie, and I'm bored!"

"What do you mean, Aikura needs it? I thought you said she was fine, Rukia."

"She is. She's her usual self."

"I wanna cheer her up, but she says we need permission from you guys."

"I did not say that," Aikura interrupted. "I said that they would kill us both if we did so. And I came into the kitchen because I wanted hot chocolate."

"Whatever. Just... don't do that, Shiro. Amuse yourself some other way. And I doubt cutting each other would liven Aikura up anyway."

"Ugh, fine." Aikura heard Rukia snort, and at the same time they both thought of TV shows where prissy girls said the same thing. Shirosaki grinned, suddenly cheerful again. "Have fun fucking, you two!"

"Bastard! We're not-"

"Well then," said Shirosaki loudly, cutting off any further indignant exclamations from his so-called King. "Guess we'll just have to break out the booze!"

"You are not-"

"Aikura-chan!" he wailed. "Why do ya always have to spoil my fun?"

Aikura once again chose to ignore him. To her surprise, he refrained from digging liquor out of the pantry and instead hopped up on the counter, swinging his legs like a child. He was keeping silent for now; she would enjoy this peace while it lasted- which wouldn't be long. After retrieving the knowledge on how to use the microwave from Rukia's mind, she placed the mug with milk inside, waiting for it to heat.

As she predicted, it didn't take long for him to speak up again.

"Hey, mind if I ask ya a question?"

"..."

"Whatever. Anyways, what are ya? I know you aren't a real hollow, like me, but you definitely have a hollow-ish tendencies."

Aikura remained silent. What was she?

The truth was, she wasn't sure herself. So, she opted to give the clear-cut explanation that she'd given to Rukia when the Shinigami discovered her still residing in her soul.

"I am a fusion of Kuchiki-sama, Homura-san, Shizuku-san, and a parasytic hollow. Before, it was the four of them. Then, it was only me. I retain memories from all four sources. However, much of my personality is what I consider to be my own, caused by their own habits. Since I am a separate entity entirely, my consciousness was retained within Kuchiki-sama's soul."

His eyebrows rose. "...huh?"

"Furthermore," she continued blankly, ignoring his confusion, "My emotions are nearly always in check, since being fused from four beings somewhat throws me off the balance. As such, I had the misfortune of inheriting something as troublesome as love for Kurosaki-san-"

Shirosaki fell off the counter.

"-which I am able to ignore, since the combined hatred of Homura-san and Shizuku-san usually nullifies it."

"Usually?-" chokes out Shirosaki.

Aikura stared at him calmly while he stared at her, eyes wide, when suddenly he laughed.

"Yay! That leaves Rukia-chan for me!"

Now she wanted to stab him. Heat flared on her face, and she quickly busied herself with the hot chocolate, feeling his eyes on the back of her head. The knife from before laid on the counter next to the cocoa powder, the blade gleaming in the dying sunlight...

As soon as she finished with making her drink, he snatched it out of her hands, taking a sip and smirking, holding it above her head. "Too short, Chibi-san?"

Rukia's indignance at being called short is another tribute she inherited. Mustering a stare cold enough to turn the hot chocolate to ice, she held out her hand.

Shirosaki looked slightly unnerved, and handed it back to her.

Their fingers brushed.

They made their way back to the living room in silence. For some reason, it felt as though they'd just had a huge argument. Aikura wondered at the unusually bitter mockery that she'd seen in the yellow pits when she'd mentioned her love for Kurosaki.

Why would it bother him? It was Rukia's emotion, not her own, and it really was mostly nullified.

Silence.

"Guess what?"

Or not.

"We're mixing saliva!"

Ichigo sighed. "It's not working."

Sode no Shirayuki's hands clapped over her mouth. "Oh, dear! I thought they would be making physical contact by now!"

"I didn't think Aikura would be so stubborn," muttered Rukia.

"Well, we have to do something," said Ichigo, exasperated. "I swear, if Shiro has one more friggin' fantasy involving Aikura without clothes on..."

The group fell silent, sensing Aikura's sudden shock and Shirosaki's glee. Distantly, they heard a cackle and a loud yell:
"My apologies, Aikura-chan! You had chocolate on your lip."