Lemon Pledge Princess (Asuka & Shiki, Social)

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Lemonade was the way to everyone’s heart. What monster doesn’t actually like Lemonade? It was sweet. It was tangy! It was cool! It’s the hottest drink of the summer! At least, Asuka thought so. She figured that you could make friends and recruit fraccion super easy if you just made sweet treats. Instead of moping around about not really having anyone around, she decided to do something about it! Y’know, when life gives you lemons you make sweet, sweet, but not too sweet, lemonade!

Asuka always was a go getter. No matter how much life threw rocks and other various pointy objects at her. She remembered Kuroi used to do that. Throw pointy stuff at her. Then she realized he wasn’t actually throwing it at her. He was stabbing her and legitimately trying to hurt her. Ah. Such was life of the murderous agent of Despair. Such a funny word too. It was like saying dis-pair. Pairs were delicious. Not the bestest fruit in the whole world but still pretty gosh darn good! The lemon was the national fruit of Asuka land!

While she might not have been there, Hueco Mundo was as close as she could get. Sand, trees and a barren wasteland as far as the eye could see. This place sure was dull and it kinda sucked. It was always night and everyone gives ya the same spiel about it; “The moon is my only friend”. Ugh. You can’t really talk to the moon and the moon doesn’t do any other fun stuff except just be there! Asuka didn’t understand this logic. It was just a pretty, glowy rock in the sky. Very pretty but not friendship material! Not companion material. Not boyfriend material. Not even stranger material! It was kind of a bummer.

In hopes of trying to liven this place up a bit, Asuka decided to open a lemonade stand right in front of that tall glass of milk called Las Noches. Not too far off but the right distance. It’s like people always say! Location, location, location! If she picked a good enough spot, she’d get lots of people to come to her stand. It was early in the day and she had to start getting to work. The teal haired girl set up her stand with her pink sign and stool, sitting. She brought out her trusty juicer, basket of lemons, water & sugar. Today was a new day and a new pitcher of lemonade was gonna really bring in the customers!

The Segunda was starting her day by making the best damn lemonade she could and she was gonna knock the shoes off of so many people! However, before she could do any of that, she had to be responsible and manually inspect every lemon. She had to see if they were gluten free and safe and that they didn’t go bad. Call her paranoid but she swore that you could die if you ate a bad lemon. “Is this good?” she asked aloud, blinking, staring at the same lemon confusedly for about five minutes. Suddenly, Asuka got scared that if she took her eyes off the lemon, it would suddenly go bad. If only she had another pair of eyes!!

[Shikitsuhiko Isayama]

Shikitsihiko allowed his hands to rest on the surface of the sand as he meditated. The warm, silky sand covered his fingers as his consciousness transcended the area. It wasn't long before his quiet solitude was disrupted by the loud, labored sounds of a fellow Espada. He could feel the vibrations of the wood as it dragged through the dense sand, scraping it into piles just before the wooden structure is adjusted properly. A flimsy rectangular object fell from the structure and landed in the sand.

“Is this good?” Asuka's voice echoed loudly in Shikitsuhiko's ears. He lifted his head as if to stare in her direction. He remained quiet as the woman stared closely at the object held in her hand. The scent of these objects immediately indicated their identity. Lemons. What on earth was she doing with so many lemons? Bags and bags full of these sour evergreen tree offspring. He remained still and quiet as she continued to inspect the fruit. He wondered why she stared so closely at the fruit, her body completely still. 

He could easily smell the lemons from this distance, though she stood only five feet from where she stood. She must be enthralled by these lemons to not have noticed a fellow Espada sitting right beside. He expression further flattened as he lifted himself from the ground. What superb concentration. He thought to himself. "That lemon is fresh." He said plainly. Once she turned around, she would see he was standing only a few feet away. He walked past her and picked-up the sign that had fallen to the ground. "What does this say?" He asked. 

He withdrew his face quickly from the surface of the sign. "It smells like artificial lemon-scented markers." He said as his hand reached out to feel the surface of her stand. "This structure...what is it? Why did you drag it out in the middle of the sands of Las Noches?" He felt hooks with his hands and immediately assumed this was a sign and meant to hang in this location. He placed the sign  on the hooks, though it was upside down. Asuka would need to correct this blind man's mistake.  If only Shikitsuhiko could see the sign. A lot of care had gone into making it, but Asuka must have recently discovered stamp markers. There seemed to be numerous moons, suns, stars, lips, and butterfly stamps surrounding the space around the sign's text.

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”That lemon is fresh”

Those words instantly made the Segunda perk up. It’s fresh! Fresh for squeezing or fresh to death!? Gosh, she sure hoped it was the first one. Though, aren’t you already killing it if you’re squeezing it? Does that mean you’re squeezing the lemon to death? Ah man… So many mysteries that would go unanswered! Maybe it’ll be like one of those candies that you have to lick to get to the center of? She inspected the lemon for a moment, actually contemplating the action.

Yeah, wasn’t gonna happen.

“It says fraccion!” Asuka chirped. She was eager to let the world know of her intentions to get more friends and get more fraccion. “I’m trying to recruit more fraccion! I just got back and all. Aha.” She said awkwardly. It was no secret that Asuka was the Segunda now. After her whole display in Kouhai’s room, people knew who she was. The only problem now was that… Asuka had no idea who was who. Except for Rio. She was always going to be scared of Rio. Oh, an she had no fraccion. All her friends were gone or shinigami. No husband. Nothin’… It kinda sucked.

Well, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade… right?! “Uh-huh! Uh-huh! I used all kinds of markers for this! I worked on this sign for weeks! It sure took me a long time but I wanted to make it really special so people would come to my stand!” She admitted sheepishly. Marketing 101 dictates that the prettier things are, the more people want to come to you! Right! So if you make stuff in a pretty color and use scented stamp markers on it, people will totally just want to buy your lemonade! Sometimes, Asuka felt like she had to pat herself on the back. She was so smart and it wasn’t often that she felt that way! Today, she got someone to come over to her stand and she didn’t even finish setting up! Talk about a good start to her day!!

The stranger had walked up to her stand and started to feel around and Asuka would beam at the taller male brightly, very much interested in this great new stranger. “It’s a Lemonade Stand! I wanted to make one so that I could get lots of new fraccion and friends~! Aha!” She said, eagerly getting up to greet this man personally with lemons in each hand. Asuka didn’t entirely notice that the sign was upside down. In fact, as far as she was concerned, it looked just as good if not better! “Do you like it?! It’ll attract lots of people here, right?” She looked at him with hopeful eyes. Don’t crush her dreams now, stranger!

Speaking of stranger, Asuka could feel from his power that he was an Espada. She just didn’t know who he was or anything like that. The first rule of friendship is to introduce oneself, right!? “Oh! I’m Asuka by the way! Asuka Hito! I’m the new Segunda! It’s nice to meetcha n’ greetcha!” She bounced, excitedly. It was like a child high on a sugar rush. Only, Asuka wasn’t a child and she had no sugar. She was just really happy to be talking to a brand, spankin’ new friend! “Who are you? Are you a lemon inspector?” Asuka asked, clearly amazed at his investigative abilities. She passed the lemons off in her hand to him. Lemons she thought might be bad and would ruin her whole batch. “Do these feel good?”

[Shikitsuhiko Isayama]

Shikitsuhiko remained silent as Asuka spoke. He found her methods curious and was unable to relate. He never really sought out fraccion. In fact, if life had taken an alternative course perhaps he would have three fraccion instead of none. He didn't think often of Lagos, his former fraccion who is now labeled a traitor and enemy of Las Noches. Her betrayal was a shock, but her impetuous nature was certainly to blame. He took a step back and felt his surroundings. There was no one nearby. 

He could clearly smell the lemons and for someone like Shikitsuhiko, his other senses we dramatically heightened. In fact, over the course of his blindness he developed a proclivity for seeking out certain textures. He followed the scent of the lemons as she outlined why she erected the stand in such a desolate location. He reached his hands into a large bag full of lemons, plucking one and squeezing it gently. He smelled it and let his fingers run along its surface. “Do you like it?! It’ll attract lots of people here, right?” 

“Oh! I’m Asuka by the way! Asuka Hito! I’m the new Segunda! It’s nice to meetcha n’ greetcha!” He lifted his head and plainly said, "I am Shikitsuhiko Isayama, Cuarta." He reached in and grabbed another lemon after setting it on the surface of the stand. “Who are you? Are you a lemon inspector?” Shikitsuhiko continued to grab lemons from the bag and inspect them, placing them on the surface beside him. "I can't say my expertise fall into the category of lemon inspector, but I am certainly suited for such an thing. So far, these lemons are very fresh, though I am curious where you managed to procure this many lemons." He asked curiously.

"I have been told that in the world of the living there are places that purposely pump the scent of their product into the air outside their establishment for the purpose of attracting customers. The air in Las Noches is stale, so have you considered how you'll attract people to your stand?" He asked earnestly. Shikitsuhiko was a practical man, one that weighed details and logic over other aspects. "Do they feel good?" He grabbed a pair of lemons from Asuka and squeezed them. "Yes, they are ripe and fresh."

"Where are all the ingredients to make this lemonade you speak of?" He felt around the surface of the stand, touching multiple objects. "What contraption is this?" He said abruptly just before placing a lemon juicer in her face. He then placed it back on the table and grabbed a lemon. "Show me how you juice this lemon?" He requested. This would likely prompt Asuka to initiate the famed pottery scene from the movie Ghost. Their hands would together grind the juice from a ripe lemon to create a most sour and sweet lemonade. 

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His name had so so so so so so many syllables! Asuka counted at least twenty five of ‘em! Awh! It was alright! She was sure he didn’t choose his name. Hell, Asuka didn’t choose hers! Her parents did and the was totes fine with that! Asuka did hear of people choosing their own names though. Specifically girls that work at certain places at night that wore the extra sparkly heels and the swim suits with all the straps and the jewels on them. The girls with the long hair and the glittery make up. They made their names stuff like “Candy” and “Fantasy” or “Dream” and they got to dance all the time!

Shiki mighta said that he’s no lemon inspector but there was no fooling this smart snake! He had the sharpest covered eyes in all of Hueco Mundo! She could feel it in her hollow bones! He even told her that the lemons she got were fresh and that had to amount for something! “There’s this place in the human world that sells a bunch of ‘em!" She chirped excitedly. The supermarket was such an awesome place! They had chips and cookies and candies there! They also had fruit and veggies but none of that really mattered to the junk food princess here. Lemonade was probably the healthiest thing she’d ingested in the last year or so.

“I just scooped ‘em up and bam! Brought ‘em here! They needed a home y'know?!” She placed her hands on her hips and stood in a triumphant manner. Man! The only thing that would make this moment better was getting a pat on the back! Or! Or! Or! Even better! A pat on the head! Gosh, Asuka loved pats on the head! She knew dogs got them but Asuka knew why they were so happy in the first place! It was because of the head pats! Its what kept them running on happiness and it was then she realized the secret to a dog’s happiness. Their tail antennas charged up when they received head pats. National Geographic had nothin’ on her!

“So yer sayin’ I need lemon scented stuff to fill the air huh…? Does that smell bitter too or does it smell yellow?” She imagined yellow smelled like bananas but if it wasn’t, she’d be sad. She picked up a lemon and observed it thoughtfully for a while. How was she gonna be able to do that. An atomizer of some sort would be useful wouldn’t it? Wait.. How would she even get that in the first place?! The Segunda would pout as the situation got more and more complicated. “I’ll work on that later! Let’s hope the smell of freshly squeezed lemons attracts a customer while we squeeze!” She jumped. Now was the hard part! The time to get to work and no funny business allowed because she was sure serious about making friends!

He’d asked about the ingredients and how to make them and Asuka tilted her head. She opened her mouth to attempt to begin explaining but then she huffed. It was one thing to explain but that was too hard for her. Visual learning was the way to go and before he knew it, his hand was in Asuka’s as she led him behind her stand. “I’ll show ya how its done!” She nodded. Asuka took a seat at a stool and placed Shiki’s hands over her, letting him mirror her movements and get a feel for them as she moved. It was just like that on movie! The one with the paranormal activity monsters in the title when there was none of that in the movie. That and Patrick Star. She couldn’t think of the name off the top of her head but that didn’t matter. Shiki’s arms would be wrapped around Asuka’s as she moved slowly, letting him get a feel for the process. He’d hear her subtle “You do this” and her “Like that” ’s repeatedly. “And then you grind hard.” She said that part frustratedly as they’d put the lemon on the juicer and being squeezing and grinding it down to its skin.

“Do you wanna try on your own Shiki!? Does this seem like fun! I think it's so much fun~!” She asked, chirped and explained in order, tilting her head up, looking up at him with a childish smile. She paused for a moment before carefully getting up and guiding him to the seat she was just sitting in. “We use sugar and water with this freshly squeezed lemon juice cause its all bitter until you add that other stuff! Aha~!”