It's a Beautiful Day Outside [Shizuka, closed]

[Raphael Laurent]

It was an early morning in Karakura Town and Raphael was just waking up, as the alarm on his phone started going off. Pushing himself out of bed, he started to head towards the restroom, stopping for a moment in the living room to turn off the television from his roommate the night before. But before he could turn off the tv, he saw a news report about “possible terrorist attack in London leads to the destruction of the London Clocktower”. He scowled at the news. Big Ben wouldn’t have gone toppling down that easily, that thing had been built to last for…a long time and was constantly undergoing maintenance. No… This hadn’t been terrorism, at least not normal terrorism, this was spiritual terrorism. Raph sighed, shaking his head and turned off the television before tossing the remote onto his roommate Mike, waking him up, his flailing nearly tossing him from the couch.

“C’mon, Mike. It’s time to get up. We’ve got a debug meeting today and I’m not covering for you if you miss it.” Raph gave Mike a bit of a glare, before heading into the bathroom and taking a shower and then got dressed after getting out. He heard Mike getting ready and grabbing the keys for his car. After another thirty minutes they were down at a small business building downtown sitting in the meeting room and talking about nonsense. The meeting had gone rather well with no big mistakes, just a few glitches that would need to be gone over after lunch and Raph and Mike couldn’t decide where to go to eat. Eventually the two of them decided on a small café in the city.

“By the way, did you hear the news about London?” Mike asked, looking up from his bowl of rice. Raph grimaced a bit, as Mike still had little grains of rice stuck to the side of his mouth, and he nodded slurping up some of his ramen noodles and swallowing. Of course he'd heard about what had happened in London! That shit was plastered all over the news and it was obvious to Raphael that Mike, at this point, was just making small talk cuz he didn't know what else to say. There were a million other things to talk about, and it was like asking about the damn weather. It just wasted everyone's time... Though, this was something a good bit more serious than the normal stupid stuff that he heard about from America, or Canada or just another billionaire accused of a sex scandal because someone wanted their money. A big reason that he was happy he hadn't been born into a wealthy family.

“Yeah, Big Ben is gone… I wonder what they’re going to do to replace it…?” Raph replied, to which Mike simply shrugged his shoulders and scarfed down some more rice. “Ever thought that there’s more food in Japan than just rice, Mike?” His friend gave an annoyed ‘harumph’ and replied, “Ever thought there’s more to it than just ramen? Seriously you eat that stuff all the time and yet you look as thin as always!” Raph simply chuckled and shrugged. “Geez, sometimes it’s almost like you’re superhuman or something…” Then his friend sighed. “Alright, what’s your crazy conspiracy theory about this one?” Raph looked at Mike surprised. “Nope. Not workin’ this time, I know that you have one. Let’s hear it.”

“Ghosts,” Raph replied, giving a rather tired shrug. “Probably some masked ghosts, combined with some samurai ghosts…” Mike looked at Raph, shaking his head. “I know that you don’t believe me, but they’re real.” He took another few noodles and swallowed them down as well. “Just be glad that you don’t see ‘em. It’s kind freaky sometimes…” Mike shrugged and sat his, now empty, bowl of rice on the table. “Would make for some interesting stories I bet! That time that I saw a masked demon and a samurai ghost battle to the death!” His friend shouted making it sound almost like a movie. “Sounds like it’d make a good movie, to me.” Raph chuckled. “Makes me wonder if people have super powers… Whaddya think? Think I could fly?”

“Mike, if YOU have any superpower it would be that you never seem to be depressed. Besides people don’t have powers. Things just don’t happen like that. Sure, samurai ghosts are a thing, but man you don’t wanna be messing with ‘em! And if there ARE any people with superpowers like the ghosts, you don’t wanna mess with those people either!” He finished his ramen. “Wait here, Imma get another bowl.” And headed back inside to try and get another bowl, if he could shove his way through the rest of the people that had suddenly decided to congregate while he and Mike had been outside enjoying their lunch! Not that he couldn't move or felt like a sardine, but it was a little too similar, were he to be perfectly honest, not that he was claustrophobic, but something like this could probably make someone so. He just wanted to get this second bowl of ramen and go enjoy it at his table... Was that so difficult?

(ooc: Raphael's Words Mike's Words

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

This Fullbringer wanted nothing more than to spend as much money as physically possible through some retail therapy. She already had about seven bags hanging on her arms from various stores, and her heightened strength allowed her to carry them without a problem. Shizuka was smiling ear to ear, excited about her buys because she found basically all of them on sale. She hadn't just blown money like this in a long time. It felt nice, actually. Being able to spoil herself was one of the perks of getting paid well for her work. It was even more exciting now because she was growing hungry, which meant she could pig out and eat some good Japanese cuisine.

As she approached a ramen shop, she realized the crowd was way too heavy at the moment. She smirked. Shizuka knew exactly what to do to clear the large group of people away. She flexed her Reiatsu enough that she knew even normal humans would feel it and be intimidated. The blonde walked forward, adjusting her bags enough to walk through the currently parting sea of people. She didn't want to be too rude, so she made sure the bags she held didn't hit anybody. They definitely felt her, though. A large radius of people felt her, but they'd never know why. All they knew was that, for some reason, they wanted to walk away from the shop.

"Oh my gosh, I'm starving!" Shizuka stopped flexing and put on her most flirtatious smile. The man behind the counter in the ramen shop blushed as she lowered her eyelids and leaned inwards seductively. "Do you think you could make me a bowl of your house special? I've been walking around all day and I'm so tired! I'll just take a seat at your front counter since they seemed to open up."

"Oh, of course! Have a seat. It'll be ready shortly."

"Thank you so much! You're so sweet!"

Shizuka sat down and carefully placed her bags next to her bar stool. She pulled out her phone and started scrolling, completely overlooking the news about Big Ben. She'd heard. She knew why it happened. She wasn't too concerned because things like that happened every day. Even she had taken down some massive buildings because she had to. Her activity was simply a distraction until her food was ready, and then she had every intention of flirting her way out of paying. But something caught her attention. A guy who looked to be about her age approached the cook and got awfully close to Shizuka. She narrowed her eyes briefly. She thought it was odd that he didn't walk away.

"Oh, sorry! I must be in your way," she said, trying to get a good look at the man. She had never been very good at sensing people due to her lack of ability to do so, but something about him felt... different. And yet familiar. Shizuka had an idea. "Here, let me give you a seat!"

Shizuka carefully moved her bags and grabbed onto his arm, using the slightest amount of Soul Command to heat up her hand against him. It would be somewhat unnaturally hot and he was bound to notice a difference. Just as suddenly, she forced the temperature to drop so he'd feel cold. She was manipulating the soul in the air surrounding her skin to change dramatically very quickly. After getting him to sit next to her for a moment, she smiled in as much of a friendly way as she could. It was somewhat subtle, but if he was quick to pick up on anything, he'd question it. She had a few more ideas just to see if he was at least spiritually aware. If he wasn't, oh well. No loss. But if he was, she wanted to see to what degree.

"There! Is that better?"

[Raphael Laurent]

Raph had watched, almost shocked to a degree, when everyone around him had begun experiencing some kind of horrid sensation of wanting…to get away almost. He watched as several shifted and milled about uneasily and then began to move away from the ramen shop, sometimes even shoving each other for room to get the hell out. Raph had felt it too and, while it had been uncomfortable, it hadn’t been overwhelming to him as it had to the others. In fact, he was hellbent and determined on getting his damn second bowl of ramen. His eyebrows rose when he saw that a blonde girl still at the bar area, noticing that she was the only one that had NOT moved away from the store, but had sat down. Either she was so oblivious that she didn’t feel anything, which he doubted, or she was strong herself…

She was eyeing him as well, he could practically feel it, and he shifted only slightly before she suddenly said something about being in his way and that she’d give him a seat. She had moved her bags, and suddenly took hold of his arm, which while reluctantly, he managed to force himself to not pull away. Yet there was a strange sensation, almost a tingling on his arm where her hand was. It was exceptionally warm, unnaturally so and then, in the next second, it was freezing cold! While he didn’t look at her, his eyebrows raised.

He sat down beside her, confusion having long since changed to contemplation. She was…something else, something erratically powerful, more so than himself, not that that was saying much. He was only barely faster than the average person able to run quite quickly. Temperatures changed over a wide area, and over a significant span of time. Whatever she’d done must’ve changed the feeling of the air in a localized area, and she had probably been the cause of the discomfort that had chased so many people away from the shop. It made him almost wonder, what she was, though the way her energy felt it was… Different from Jennifer’s and Brian’s, so he could fairly easily tell that she wasn’t a quincy. Maybe she was a…fullbring? He’d have to ask to find out, and in a way that didn’t sound either rude, or overly suspicious.

“Yes, thank you. It’s quite better.” He couldn’t help but be just a bit on edge, mostly because he could feel Mike’s jealous eyes boring holes into the back of his head. He cast his vision outside for a moment, a glare shooting to his friend, who quickly dove back down to hide himself, before Raph turning his attention to the man behind the counter. “Oh, I…I’d just like a bowl of noodles, if I may.” Then, and finally, he turned to the young woman who’d done…something a second or two ago and he smiled back. “Indeed. My name is Raph, or Raphael if you’d prefer…” Suddenly his voice dropped to a bit of a whisper, enough so that only she would be able to hear him. “And I have to ask: how did you do that? I know that you caused a sharp uptick and drop in temperature on the area where your hand was on my arm. I’m also ninety eight percent certain, based on the fact that you’re one of the few that didn’t leave when that uncomfortable feeling forced everyone away, that you are the cause of that, as well.” Despite his hushed voice, it was clear that he was sounding less like the cop that he had always practiced being and more like an excited child learning something entirely new. He wanted, no, needed to know more.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

“Indeed. My name is Raph, or Raphael if you’d prefer… And I have to ask: how did you do that? I know that you caused a sharp uptick and drop in temperature on the area where your hand was on my arm. I’m also ninety eight percent certain, based on the fact that you’re one of the few that didn’t leave when that uncomfortable feeling forced everyone away, that you are the cause of that, as well.”

"Oh, Raph. You handsome little thing. I absolutely did do that, yes!" Shizuka leaned closer to him, being sure to show her cleavage in an obvious manner. She knew he'd look down reflexively. "What's gotten you so curious? Is it because you can sense something about me?"

The main downside to this was that Shizuka, having no Energy Sensory at all whatsoever, was struggling to figure out what the heck this kid was. He wasn't a Shinigami, probably. A Bount, maybe? That was possible. Probably not a Quincy, but who knows about that one. Or perhaps... She wanted him to be another Fullbringer. She didn't know that many of them in the first place. Being able to relate to someone like her would be a dream! But if he was one of her own kind, he was new. Like, brand-spanking new. Yeah, Shizuka remembered those days. Not too fondly, but she remembered them. She didn't really know what to do with her life, but she trained anyway. It was all part of the experience.

But the more spiritually aware people, the better. It would only help her in the long run and she'd always return the favor. Shizuka blinked slowly and smiled at Raph, careful not to seem like she was doing all of this on purpose. The attitude she presented was more like she was simply being friendly, unaware of her actions or any effect they'd have on others. She often used her looks and kindness to get her way, much like how she was going to flirt herself out of paying the bill for this food, but she didn't want anyone to know she was being a con artist. That would defeat the whole purpose.

"Would you like to learn more?"

Shizuka directed her focus back onto Raph. She knew about some innate abilities that certain races could and could not do. If she was going to find out what he was, she could train him a little bit until he unlocked these powers. It would be a while before he could do anything substantial, probably, but it wouldn't be too long. He already caught on to her. He knew she caused that rather than waving it off like other humans did. Even with no Energy Sensory, Shizuka could tell there were power levels between her and other beings. Her soul gauge allowed her to see that certain people had higher spiritual abilities than others. As to what they were, there was no telling. Unless they actively flexed, she'd never know. They basically needed to make it obvious.

"Oh, forgive me! I'm probably being way too forward with you. I just get excited when I meet people like me."

[Raphael Laurent]

Raph blushed just a little when she called him handsome but confirmed that she indeed had been the one that had done both of those things. So his thoughts were correct, and there were beings of incredible power that lived in the world, some of them even human. She didn’t give off the annoying feeling of Shinigami, nor the horrifying feeling of the hollows or even the feeling of being home like quincy energy did… The only thing that he could think of was that she was a fullbringer, humans with much greater power than normal, power to rival even the masked monsters. But as she leaned closer to him he looked down on reflex and blushed a deeper red as he realized that, intentionally or unintentionally, she was showing off her breasts. He quickly looked back up at her eyes, though his cheeks were still red.

She was being friendly, and he was being polite… Inwardly he had to admit that it might be better to attempt to be a bit more friendly, just not too friendly; didn’t know what kind of trouble he could get into. He had to be careful with this especially since he was so new to this whole supernatural thing… It was entirely possible that he could get into a lot of trouble. If she wasn’t a fullbringer…if she was one of the humanoid hollows, or a Shinigami in disguise… He couldn’t risk learning from either of them, if she was a fullbring on the other hand, as he was sure he was, then it would be better.

Her question elicited a very positive response. “Would I like to learn more? Of course I’d like to learn more! I want to learn as much as I can! I feel like I’ve got a lot of learning to do and it’s easier to do so if there’s someone else that knows a bit more about what they’re doing. Plus it assists in building bonds between people.” He smirked. He didn’t know if this woman’s friendship was out of altruism, or as she was saying, excitement from meeting someone like herself, but Raph wanted to learn and having something of a teacher, couldn’t be all bad. Quite the opposite, it was likely to be rather beneficial. Still, he had to make certain of something. “By someone like yourself, do you mean a fullbring? I know you aren’t a quincy…”

Raph was a tad nervous. He was showing his hand a bit early, but at the same time, he was fairly certain that he could at least get out of the shop if she was anything BUT a fullbring. Regardless, he was literally diving headfirst into the deep end of a world that he barely understood from one that he only slightly understood. Having a mentor, tutor teacher, hell even just a friend would be better than trying to walk into such a world blind. Not that he was entirely blind, hell he’d been seeing the ghosts for quite a few years now, but now he was truly engrossing himself in this world. If she could help, Raph would take all the help that he could get!

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

His blushing face was so cute. She knew this would be easier than she originally thought based on that action. He was young and uneducated when it came to the ways of the spiritually aware, but it was pretty obvious by his knowledge that he wasn't completely lost on the conversation. When Shizuka first started developing her powers, she didn't know what she was and had to be told. She had a teacher and he was able to help her along the way. Without that, she likely wouldn't be nearly as successful as she was now. It was this kid's turn now and she wanted to do everything she could to help him. And, eventually, recruit him.

"You're too adorable. But yes, I'm a Fullbringer. Actually, I'm proudly the most powerful Fullbringer in the entire world at current. That's not something I say without merit, of course. I struggled a lot to get where I am. I'm sure you feel it, but the difference in power between us is astronomical right now. The only thing you likely can't sense is my Reiatsu. I'm suppressing that for obvious reasons."

It wasn't her intention to fully advertise where she was. This was information he might like to know, though. He knew what Fullbringers were but probably didn't know a whole lot more than that. She smiled at him. Come to think of it, she'd never really been much of a mentor before. She only ever met other people who had already developed their abilities to a full extent or were almost at their max. He was so new. It would be easy to train him and help him develop his own powers, whatever they may be. Shizuka's focus was torn away for a brief moment with the arrival of her food, soon followed by a bowl for Raph.

With not many people around and enough cover for her to play, Shizuka used Soul Command to stir her boiling ramen and attempt to cool it off naturally rather than make the temperature of the food cooler on her own, but mostly as a means of showing off her talents. This was one of the perks of being a Fullbringer and she definitely enjoyed it. She felt like some expert elemental or superhero or something from a comic book series when she did things like this and it was exciting. When she was younger, this was one of the first things she learned how to do. It didn't cost much Reiatsu to do things and sometimes didn't use any energy at all.

"This type of skill is an innate ability that Fullbringers like me have. We can all do it. We control the souls of anything in this universe so long as it doesn't have superiority over us. As an example, I can move my ramen but I can't move someone else's spiritual weapon." She stopped stirring for a moment to look at Raph. "This isn't the extent of it, though. I'm able to do way more. As you grow and learn about your powers, you'll be able to figure out what you can't and can't do and develop yourself."

She was curious, though. She didn't know much about him aside from his quizzical nature. He asked questions, which was good, but she hadn't asked any yet. She wanted to know who he was and where he came from, because he certainly wasn't normal if he could see Hollows or Shinigami or anything similar. He was special and needed to know about that. Shizuka thought for a moment before politely slurping up some noodles. It was the only proper way to eat ramen, anyway. Well, that, and it was the easiest. The temperature was cooled enough for it to still be hot but not burn her mouth. That was nice.

"So why do you know so much about this hidden world of ours?"

[Raphael Laurent]

She called him adorable, and he couldn’t help but blush again. This time it wasn’t from being called adorable, as much as it was that he didn’t like the attention. Raph was the guy that the women ignored while they went after his friend Mike; regardless of her intentions he…didn’t like the attention itself. He shifted for a second or two in his seat while she continued. She wasn’t JUST a fullbringer, apparently, but the most eminent one currently in the world. He nodded when she mentioned the struggles that she’d made to get to that point, she’d worked hard, no doubt, to get where she was. Her admission of the fact only made Raphael even more eager to start working and training. But there was more to be done, for the moment, his own desires had to be put aside. She was right, though, that he couldn’t sense her reiatsu, which given how powerful she was, was probably a good thing.

He would’ve asked more questions, but their food suddenly arrived and Raphael was FAMISHED, despite having eaten an entire bowl of rice a little bit ago. In awe, he watched as she used what appeared to be a similar technique from earlier to cool down her ramen. The noodles in front of Raph, on the other hand, wouldn’t be cooled nearly as easily or quickly. He didn’t care, though, he was hungry. Picking up the bowl and some chopsticks, he immediately began fishing out some noodles and sucked them down as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks. They were pretty hot, and burned his mouth a bit, but regardless he was too hungry to care, and so he kept on slurping them down, as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

Silently, he listened, as she explained what some of the things that fullbringers could do, and his excitement only grew. Little did she know that she was feeding the flames of someone who worked exceptionally hard whenever he wanted something, and with this, he was going to kill himself in training. Though it mattered little since, for now at least, he was as low as one could possibly be on the scale of power. With practice, work and patience, he would shoot for as high as she’d gone. He didn’t care how long it took, he’d get there.

When she asked how he knew so much about the spiritual world already, though, he was a little unsure how to answer. Though it didn’t matter all that much, Brian was with the quincy military and his mother had vanished not long after. “Well the family that adopted me were all quincies, mom, dad and my brother. I think it was when I turned eleven I first started seeing ghosts, and the year after I started seeing the hollows and the Shinigami. When she found out that I was seeing these things, my mom began teaching me somethings that she knew about them, and it was pretty substantial. Also taught me a bit of how to defend myself. She never told me what I was, though she said that I wasn’t a quincy. She did inform me of that much. Also told me that the Shinigami were evil, and to never trust them.” Using his chopsticks he pulled up some more noodles and slurped some down again and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. They ignore me when I do my maps of their patrols anyways. Why do you ask?”

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

So he was adopted. Interesting, Shizuka thought to herself. And by Quincies, of all things. Shizuka didn't particularly mind Quincies. Heck, she worked with one. They were fine and dandy so long as she didn't run into anyone from the Vandenreich. She didn't actually mind those, either, but she also hated having to deal with them. The Vandenreich disliked anything they deemed to be "un-pure," which was basically everything unrelated to them. Shizuka rolled her eyes mentally. They could be so arrogant. But, then again, so could she. And she had every right to be.

But at least Shizuka knew this guy wasn't a Quincy. Judging by how he was hanging around and people obviously saw him despite his low power levels, he wasn't a Shinigami. Shizuka had enough experience with those things to understand the difference between them and other races. The only time it was an issue was if they were using a Gigai and masking themselves properly, but he probably didn't know how to do that. If she could even tell that he was weaker than she was, he wasn't masking anything. Unfortunately, that's about all she could read. It sucked not being able to sense people.

"That's fascinating. You're not a Quincy, so that narrows it down. You could be a Mod Soul, Bount, a Fullbringer just like me, or... Well, jeez. At least we know what you're not. But with proper training, we can easily exclude more options."

Shizuka paused when she remembered one detail he spoke of. Yes, Shinigami were evil and shouldn't be trusted. At least, not at first. The Fullbringer thought briefly about those that she did actually trust, and two came to mind. One was a Rogue despite Shinigami status, and one went missing a long time ago. Even her grandmother made her question the morality of such creatures. She recalled how Shizuyoko mentioned that 'Shinigami' was actually a title rather than a race, but Shizuka didn't differentiate. It was basically the same in her eyes. So the fact that Raph recognized that was good. And it made Shizuka think about something.

"You know, you're smart for a young guy. I know, I know. Our ages aren't much different. But," she started as she gave him a light poke in the stomach. "You're obviously not a Shinigami. Your dislike of them is completely reasonable and justified. I also feel that way, though for different reasons."

She had her own agenda. Shizuka was aiming to gather as many people into her organization as possible to be able to over-power other races no matter what they ended up being. Every race was weak against another, so the more people she was able to recruit, the better off she was. He was no different than her. If she could somehow convince him that Xcution was going to be beneficial in the end, maybe he'd go for it. She could train him. She could help him learn about himself and become powerful. She wouldn't mind taking on someone like that and it could even be fun! All she needed was a little time.

"Say, how would you feel about joining a club?" Shizuka held out a black business card that she got from her bag. "This could lead you to new beginnings. I could train you and help you learn about who you really are. You can accept or deny, but I'd help you realize your goals. Anything you want can be achieved. If you want that, tell me. If you need to think about it, you may. But to call upon me, pour your Reiatsu into that card. I'll be able to find you anywhere."

[Raphael Laurent]

Suddenly she began going over what Raph could only assume were different spiritual races and/or groups, and if they weren’t then god only knew what they were. With all these different names Raphael was suddenly becoming confused as to what he was or what half of these were. After all he had no clue what a bount was or what a mod soul was, and the way that she talked made it sound like there were at least twenty more. Hell Raph barely knew anything about the spiritual world and here she was tossing so many different concepts and new jargon at him… He didn’t know what half of these words meant, and hopefully his confusion would be apparent as he gazed at her, a bit dazed and lost.

Raph felt his face flush a light pink again when she called him smart. It was a little annoyed when people complimented him, if only because he could never figure out how to make it stop. He despised stimuli auto responses from the body. But regardless, as he gazed at her he couldn’t help but think about how close they were to one another in age, and then she said exactly what he’d been thinking and she poked him. He felt minor bits of annoyance and indignation welling up inside of him, but he didn’t dare show it. He didn’t want to seem rude to someone who seemed oddly willing to help him. When she mentioned that she had different reasons to dislike them, he thought about asking for a second but thought better of it, in the end. It wasn’t his business why she didn’t like them. He was sure lots of spiritualists didn’t like them, based on what his mother had told him.

Her second question, however, made Raphael’s eyebrows raise up. Not that he’d never been asked about joining a blue before, cuz he had. College and highschool, after all, had both had clubs and other such congregations, though back then Raph hadn’t joined them. He’d heard stories of the hazing and the other crap that happened in those organizations back then and had decided that it wasn’t worth it. And here was someone who was offering something similar, and he wasn’t sure that he should take it. This was an invite from a different world, one that he was just beginning to walk into. His mind reeled for a second as she offered him the card. At the very least he should take the card, he reasoned as he took it from her hands. It was pure black, and he could only really look at it for the time being.

“I hope that you don’t take offense,” he said as he looked at her while still holding the card. “But I don’t make decisions hastily. I do appreciate the offer, but I’m going to have to think on it. Of course, I’m not saying no but I do want to think about it.” He looked at the card, a little apprehensive. She’d be able to find him pretty much anywhere so long he…poured… “And if I decide to take you up on that offer then I’ll definitely do that thing…” Then suddenly his voice dropped to something of a whisper. “As…soon as I figure out how…”

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"What thing? You mean pouring your Reiatsu into something? That's not hard. All you do is hold on to the object and imagine energy flowing out of you like a river, but focused on the one item. That's lesson one, I suppose."

Shizuka gave him a moment to attempt and she'd simply wait for the opportunity to confirm he'd done it correctly. She'd be able to feel it within her own Reiatsu signature since these cards were linked to it. The way she saw them was similar to a cell phone when someone sends a text message, but it happens more immediately and allows her to locate the person without a problem since she's just trying to find the activated card. She was able to do this with Luke when he called her out to the bar to chat even though that conversation was interrupted. Such a shame, too. She swore she would have been able to convince him to join Xcution that day.

"You may also take your time with your decision. I'm a fair person," Shizuka began, her tone much less playful and significantly more serious than before. "But I'm going to be honest with you. People will cross paths with you who threaten your life. I can't guarantee I never will, myself. But I can offer you protection and the chance to learn about as many things as you desire. I can offer you a community full of people just like you. I can provide you with a sense of safety and security..."

The Fullbringer's voice trailed off as she stood up, her facial features hardened into something more sinister and murderous. She meant him no direct harm and was not going to attack, and by the way she held herself, that much was obvious. She had no intention of lifting a finger in his direction. But what she did, instead, was flex the full force of her Class 0 Fullbringer Reiatsu solely on him. No one else would be able to feel it. No one else would be able to sense that. Only him. And what he would feel would be such intense fear and intimidation due to the vast differences between their power levels and he would never be able to resist it. She was giving him a taste of what was out there.

"From people like me. Because this," she stated, motioning to herself. "Is what you're up against."

Shizuka ceased flexing but held her expression sternly. She pushed her empty ramen bowl up towards the chef so he would take it from her, which he did. She offered to pay, but he waved it off just as she knew he would as soon as she flashed him one of her charming smiles. At least her charisma worked on these people. She then softened a bit, smirking arrogantly at Raph. This wasn't simply some power play. She needed people like him in her organization and she had a good feeling about it. She just hoped she wasn't wrong, because she didn't want to think about what it would be like to be on opposing sides.

"Keep in mind, Raph, that you may say no. That does not immediately put your life on a deadline. I can handle rejection. But if you ever get curious, I can tell you more about us. Who we are. What we do. Y'know, that sort of thing."

[Raphael Laurent]

She explained that pouring his reiatsu into something wasn’t difficult and that all he had to do was imagine energy flow out of him like a river. But to…focus on the item? Therein was the issue. He didn’t exactly know how to do that. Focus on the item, while at the same time imagine energy flowing out of him like a river…? His brows furrowed in annoyance as he stared at the card for a few seconds, quite unsure of what to do. But he tried to concentrate on the one thought, while he held onto the card. Imagine your energy like a river. So he concentrated and thought entirely of a river while he did so. The water streaming through the channel and into an open lake… It would be a few seconds before Shizuka would get the feeling of it, but it would finally get through to her. Despite the fact that Shizuka might not have been able to sense normal energy, she would feel a growing warmth from his reiatsu, as if she was sitting by a campfire.

“Huh… Well, that’s definitely a hell of a lesson…” He looked at the card, turning it around in his hands a few times. It was fascinating that something like that could be possible, that she would be able to find and sense him wherever he was, just by pushing energy into it. If only normal humans could figure out how to do that, communication issues would become less of an issue!

Suddenly, though, her demeaner and tone became far more serious than they had a moment ago, as she spoke on how fair she was, as well as the fact that many would try to kill him. Then went on to say that she, herself, might even at some point try to or that they might wind up on opposite sides and that she might have to kill him. Then, in the same breath, said that she offered protection and a chance to learn as much as he wanted, something that stoked the same fire inside of him. It was the fire that had caused him to press forward when her power had struck the area and forced everyone else away.

Then, suddenly, she did what she’d done before though with much more power and efficacy, as he found himself being pressed downwards, and even worse, suddenly had trouble breathing. He gasped for air for a few minutes, trying his best to get something in, and then just as soon as it had draped upon him, she caused it to relax and end. He gulped down as much air as he could as she handed back her empty bowl of ramen, and smiled at him. What was her purpose with all of this, he had to wonder. Was she trying to kill him? Threaten him? Bring him into her club, seemed the most apparent, but there were possibilities of other things… He had every right to say no, she mentioned that. And for the time being, as loathe as he was to do so, he would have to.

He gave her a gaze filled with as much fear as it was confident. “I appreciate the warning, the lesson and the card. Please understand that I simply need time to process everything that’s happening. It isn’t often that I get to see inside of a hidden world and, as much as I’d love to play Alice right now and jump into the looking glass, I need to reflect and think about things.” He gave her a polite smile, and gave the man behind the counter the money that he owed for the bowl of noodles. “Plus, with or without your tutelage, I need to at least get a bit more acquainted with things before I commit myself.” Slowly slipping the black card into his pocket, he smiled at her. “I would love to know more about your organization, in the meantime. But I’ve some soul searching to do after this. I CAN tell you that my decision shall be made by the beginning of next week, at the latest. I don’t like leaving things off for too long. Now, if I may ask a few questions: What is the name of this “club” and what do you all do?”

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Feeling the familiar sensation of being beckoned by someone pouring their own spiritual essence into her business card made Shizuka smile. It was nice to see that he was willing to practice. It seemed to be the only thing he was willing to do, however. She wasn't really the type to pry too much, and she wasn't going to lie to herself about him. The constant nagging feeling she got that he was irritated about everything made her roll her eyes internally. She was simply being honest with him, and yet he was giving her a hard time. She thought about it for a moment. She could kill him. She could lure him away under false pretenses and end his life. But was that really what she wanted to do?

Well, no. So she wouldn't. Just because he was inexperienced didn't mean he would be completely useless. As much as she wanted to see another person like him in Xcution, she'd never force him to do anything against his will. That simply wasn't how she worked. She didn't even do that with Luke when she tried to convince him to join her organization. He wanted to stay with Uzaki in his group and that was fine. It meant they had to be more reserved and secretive about their relationship, but it was still ultimately fine. Luke was strong and didn't need Shizuka. Someone like Raph might at first.

Shizuka shrugged. "All I'm doing is offering you a sense of awareness. You may take it or leave it. As for the offer, take your time. I don't need an answer that quickly unless you feel ready. But if you want to flip the card over, you'll realize what my organization is."

Raph would see a giant white "X" on the card if he chose to follow her instructions. Despite his questions, she couldn't give everything away. For a while, Xcution had been disguised as a corporate business that bought out and controlled other major businesses as it grew to become one of the most profitable and influential organizations in the entire universe. As of late, they had to downsize. They lost ownership over Uzaki Enterprises and saw a severe decrease in their membership, though Shizuka was obviously attempting to reverse that. She felt like she was succeeding with or without the recruitment of Raph.

"We're disliked by many for biased reasons. People are naturally afraid of the unknown. We're unknown. But in truth, we're a safe haven for people like you and me." It was a half-truth, but still a truth. "I see those with potential and try to bring them in so they have others like them who they can relate to. At the end of the day, we preserve the lives of the spiritually gifted and terminate the lives of those who deserve it. This includes heinous criminals."

None of this was false, but Shizuka was smart. If he'd ever heard of Xcution or recognized the name, it was likely that he'd ask someone else about it because Shizuka was only spilling what she wanted him to know. If anyone else talked about the organization, they'd probably mention the professional assassins and how they take out targets based on potential threats. Some did mercenary work, but not too often. Most of the time it was ridding the world of corrupt officials or anyone who posed a danger to society for whatever reason. Shizuka would typically interrogate the target, get the information she needed, and then kill them. It wasn't hard. She just removed the thought of their humanity from her mind.

"Now, you're more than welcome to ask more questions about other races or whatever you want, but we should leave here. Would your friend like to come?" Shizuka eyed the other guy that Raph had originally been with. She already had an excuse ready.

[Raphael Laurent]

He was silent as the transfer into the card ended, he couldn’t help but be fascinated by what he was seeing, and he could tell that she was mildly annoyed his irritation. He couldn’t help it. There was so much to take in, so many questions that he had and so many things that he wanted to learn and yet he couldn’t just jump in so quickly. Still, she’d been more than kind enough to speak with him and from what she’d shown him, she could’ve ended his life in seconds. She probably wouldn’t have to do much and he’d be dead. She was strong, unbelievably so.

She shrugged, replying that she didn’t need an answer immediately and that all she was doing was offering a sense of awareness and told him to flip the card over. He did so, holding it for a bit longer than he had and looked at it There was a large white X emblazoned on the back of it. He knew minor things about it, had heard about a company and yet everything that he’d heard painted the company in a good light. Sure there were things that weren’t to be believed in every news story and Raph had heard of cutthroat policies that took place but what company didn’t have those? Unlike Uzaki Enterprises, Raph really hadn’t done much research into this one and only had minor snippets of information…

While she spoke, Raph took in every word carefully; after all there was no telling if she was telling the truth or feeding a fantastic lie. Who knew what the truth behind this place was? It didn’t really matter though. He’d worked for crappier companies before and dealt with all manner of idiocy from under the table buyouts to being rented out to another place as an “intern”. He was pretty sure that, by now, nothing would surprise him. And when she said that her company terminated those that deserved it, he nodded. In a macabre way, it made a good bit of sense. The whole “moonlighting vigilante” thing seemed like a bit of a bum deal, what with typical “good” morality getting in the way of it. Sometimes a bit of death needed to happen to ensure that the world kept spinning.

The next part surprised him, though, she said that he was more than welcome to ask questions about other topics, but that they should probably move venues before asking if Mike wanted to come. Raph didn’t fully see the harm in it, despite the fact that he had no idea what would be going on. Looking back out the window, he noticed Mike now had his head in his phone, which wasn’t uncommon for him. Probably either looking up some girl’s phone number or… And then his phone went off and Raph sighed knowing it was from his friend.

“I agree that we should head out for any further questions, but as for my friend, I don’t know. He’ll probably just hit on you the whole time. He doesn’t have the same head for this as I do…” Raph watched Mike for a second and shook his head, right before the phone stopped buzzing. “To my knowledge, he’s just a normal guy. Can’t see Shinigami or hollows or anything else like that. I can make up an excuse to get him to leave… Unless you just want to see the bewildered look on his face when you start explaining all of this to him.” And he gave her a rather amused smile. “He’s not aware, see. He likes to hang out with me cuz he says that I make him look good.”

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"Adorable," Shizuka started, looking over in Mike's direction. "I remember what it was like to be like you. I had no idea what was going on in the world until my powers developed and I was recruited. Must be nice to be like that."

Reminiscing caused Shizuka to feel a bit of sadness as she remembered her old friends and how they were all gone or missing. Very few remained. Actually, most of her relationships tended to end that way. Whether they were innocent or intimate, it never mattered. They disappeared or were killed. Anyone who stuck around obviously got stronger on their own, but she also hardly saw them and they were probably off doing their own thing with their own organizations or whatever. Such was life, right? She understood Raph's reason for wanting to protect Mike from this world. But she didn't really care either way.

"Offer the invitation to him. He'll likely decline anyway, but if he doesn't, he can come. Normal humans can see Fullbring. Other powers, not so much. It's entirely dependent on the race's abilities. I figure I can maybe show you a thing or two about what I can do and send you on your way."

And this was genuinely her intention. She was going to show off a bit, give him an idea of what Fullbringers were, perhaps get him a little bit more excited about being a spiritual being, and then leave. She didn't have the patience to press the issue. She wasn't going to peer pressure him into doing anything if he truly didn't want to. At the end of the day, if he tried to seek her own and ask for help with training, she'd be totally down. That didn't bother her. But what would bother her was if he completely gave up on his potential. She could see it in him somehow. She had no idea what he was, but she could just tell. He could do incredible things.

Whatever Raph decided was fine with her in terms of bringing Mike along or not. She motioned with a slight head tilt that he should follow her, and she didn't walk too far until she reached her home in Karakura. It was probably only about ten or so minutes, and she basically talked about a whole lot of nothing important on their way there. Shizuka, being wealthy due to her profession and status, had quite a large and luxurious home, complete with underground training complexes. She liked to use these to teach herself new techniques, which was probably what she should have done when she learned how to use Inner Power. Instead, she lost control and almost killed her boyfriend. She made a mental note to recommend training to Raph when it came to stuff like that.

"Well, this is my humble abode! Don't be so intimidated. We're going underground for a short bit. You and I can always spar if you truly wish, but I won't use my Release against you. You'd die if I fought you with all my strength. That's not me bragging, by the way. Unfortunately, it's just kinda how things go. Once you get stronger, I'd be more than happy to fight you! I bet it could be fun."

[Raphael Laurent]

He watched her as she looked out the window at Mike who, once again, ducked his head down like a student that had just been caught cheating. Raph couldn't help but smile at his friend. Despite the fact that the guy wouldn't be sharing in this experience that Raph was now apparently walking down, Mike was still a really cool guy. He didn't want to lose his friendship with the guy and so he'd have to explain this simply. Watching her for a moment as she spoke he nodded. "I don't know how that could've been nice. Oftentimes I dislike it pretty badly. Though I guess it's a "the grass is always greener" huh?"

When she suggested that Raph invite Mike he nodded, got up and went outside to talk to his friend. When he opened the door, the man once again ducked down and started to tap at his phone, pretending to be looking at it, and then looked back at his laptop. He typed a few lines into it and Raph walked around to look at his work and chuckled realizing that his friend was STILL typing at what he was typing at when they'd first arrived. "So tell me, Mike, how much did you ACTUALLY get done while I was talking, huh?"

"Uh... Oh, you know..." Mike chuckled rather embarrassedly and Raph frowned. "Ok, fine, I didn't get anything done, ok?! I was just..." He paused and sighed. "I was just curious about what you were talking about with her. Everyone else leaves not long after she's in there, and yet there you were, standing there, ordered a friggin' bowl of noodles and just sat there talking with this woman! Why'd you do that? How'd you do that? What in the world did you two talk about? It looked really friggin' serious!"

He smiled softly at his friend. "Well, ya know how I see ghosts and shit like that?" Mike nodded a few times. "Well, apparently she's also part of that whole spirit world stuff, and said that she would show me a bit about what it's like and that she would help me a bit and show me what some of their abilities and things like that. Wanna come with me?" His friend seemeed to be excited for a few minutes and but that excitement quickly, and suddenly, died down as he frowned.

"Yeah, don't get me wrong Raph, that sounds really fun but I just feel like all this that you're doing isn't exactly something that I should be getting into. I like the fact that you and I are such good friends and you're trying to keep me in the loop, but seeing everyone leave when she entered made me think that maaaaaybe I should just head home and catch back up with you later." He scratched his head and started packing his laptop up almost immediately while pushing Raph's stuff into his own little suitcase and chuckled. "Hope you have fun with it though. Sounds like it'll be cool as hell!" He gave him a thumbs up and headed back towards his car before heading out of the parking lot and in the direction of the office.

He watched his friend speed off before following behind her and stopped for a moment in front of a rather large house, eyes slightly wide. Whatever the hell she did, she must've made a lot of money doing it. He followed her inside and nodded right before he followed her inside. "It's a pretty big house, I've gotta admit. You're a lot stronger than I am. I've got a LOT of work to do before I'm even close to where you are... I would love to see what you're capable of! It'll be the best way to see what I have to look forward to!"