Flames on the Water's Edge [Kaen, Mizu]

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

It wasn't particularly difficult for her to track down the Vice Captain. Something of a soft sigh escaping the Third Seat as she reached up and rubbed at her eyelids. How easily she had settled into a routine. It was almost sinister how....regular everything became. As a Seated Officer, she had a fair number of responsibilities but this evening she wasn't operating with that in mind. She was.... curious. To say the least. There was a lot to be said about the Vice Captain of the Seventh Division, and truth be told.

She had become abundantly curious. And so she found herself making her way to the man's office. A pause as her own spiritual senses picked up the man's presence. Well at least he was there. All the same, reaching up, she gently knocked on the edge of the door and waited patiently to be let in. She'd already sent word ahead after all. Tenth Division and Seventh hardly brushed elbows, but even so, this was hardly a work call. Nope, this was .... an act encouraged by some of her 'friends'. The notion itself was.....perturbing. A year or so ago, she would have been disgusted by the very notion. And yet, it had somehow...happened. She had friends. Associates. She even had a 'Bestie'. And that Bestie had ...noticed her limited sociable behavior when it came to...well. Men.

Mizu had no interest in guys. Or partnering in general for that matter. However, her 'Bestie', felt otherwise. That Mizu needed to stop being such a workaholic, and that she needed to try and meet someone. Mizu had been trying to get her to drop the damn subject for a few months now. But she'd finally decided to cave. That so long as she made an 'attekmpt'. She'd be off the hook. And who better than someone she knew would not accept? A man with a bit of a ...ahem. Reputation to say the least. Details were muddy, but supposedly, he was quite interested in a woman already. As someone who would sooner nail her foot to the floor than listen to gossip, she didn't ACTUALLY have much information other than that. But surely that'd be more than sufficient.

She'd hang out. Flirt a little. And provide a cordial and official request for a date. He'd decline, and she could go about her merry way and convey the 'story' to her Bestie. Everyone won. Surely this couldn't possibly go wrong.

[Kaen Youji]

Siiiigh paperwork. Kaen's least favorite part of the job. He missed being a third seat. Honestly, he even missed being fifth seat of the division. The workload was less, the responsibility was less, he didn't feel like he carried the world on his shoulders, he didn't feel like he had to be the face of the 7th Division. Less pressure, he could breathe, he could focus on himself and his relationships. It had been the perfect balance of authority and freedom. Now though? He looked about his desk with a grimace, at the piles of work he had to do. It would probably take hours for him to push through this work. Then he'd have to step out and train the Division, let's see..... Kaen paused ever so briefly from his work to scan his schedule on the wall. Lien, Akane-- no Hikari, and the newly promoted Sakana. Plus a number of unseated officer classes, that would really be focused more on teamwork tactics than individual fighting.

If there was one thing Kaen had taken from the battle against mod souls, it was to drill into the Seventh Division how to fight as a unit as well as individuals. The buddy system was alive and well for every officer below tenth seat in his squad. Kaen was tired of hosting funerals for his officers. This was war. People died. Kaen was doing his damnest to make sure that as few of his friends died as possible, and that included the officers under his command. To value their lives, as much as they did the lives of their comrades.

It was sad really, how hypocritical that was, when Kaen really thought about it. Tell his division to value their lives when he really didn't value his. Adrenaline junkie. That was a phrase he'd picked up in the Human World. He was familiar with the phrase "thrillseeker" but adrenaline junkie was a new one. And probably fit him pretty well. Not since his fight with Celes had he felt so alive, the moment Celes had shattered all of his ribs on his left side, instead of filling him with dread or concern had instead lit set his veins on fire. The blood, sweat, agony and sheer joy of pushing himself against a worthy opponent and being met with such force in turn, with nothing at stake but their own pride and bodies.

But now here... Here in his office, here as the representative of the 7th, Kaen couldn't do that. He had to maintain a level of dignity, befitting the position. And all he could do in the face of that was sigh in annoyance. He heard a knock at his door, and kept scribbling away at the page he was working on. "Come in." He replied, his eyes flicking up to the door for just a moment, setting the paper he'd been looking at aside onto a reviewed stack of reports, now with his signature on it validating it for some bureaucrat in the First Division to look at sometime within the next six months.

....Training couldn't come soon enough, Kaen really needed someone to punch right now.

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

"Lieutenant." She greeted with a respectful bow of her head once she'd slipped into the door and looked around at the interior of the man's office. Something of a ...concerned look on her face. She glanced at her phone for a moment and paused. It was well into the afternoon, was he STILL not done with his paperwork? A hint of incredulity stained her features before looking back to the Officer and offering a sheepish smile. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, pushing the annoyance out of her mind.

"I'm sorry if this is a bad time. I can come back in an hour if you need?" She ventured as she gestured over her shoulder. making it clear that she had every intention of coming back later when his attention wasn't so ...divided. Though in the meantime, she did take a moment to look him over when his attention was situated elsewhere. Welp, it did give her a bit more insight into Mei's taste she supposed. The man's features certainly matched up with what the other women seemed to like. Tone. An amicable face. And ...hard...working she supposed?

Several memories of Mei fawning over what a hard worker the man was floated to the forefront of her mind, and she glanced briefly at the stack of paperwork. She supposed it was certainly easy to look like a hard worker when you were so bad at it it took you longer than usual. But she kept those snide comments to herself and waited patiently for a response from the man. As if she could HEAR Mei directly behind her, berrating her to give the man a chance. Though she was usually right. Not that she'd ever tell Mei that.

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen looked up and paused, looking at her for a moment, looking over the woman that had entered his office. She looked familiar somewhat, though in the sense that Kaen doubted they'd been formally introduced. Most likely a seated officer from another division. He paused for a moment, his azure eyes searching Mizu's face. "Hmm.... I don't believe we've been formally introduced.... Third Seat Tsuraiko of the Tenth, if I'm not mistaken? Sorry if I am, I'm not so good with names." He stated, setting aside the paper he'd been reviewing so he could give the Seated Officer his full attention.

Kaen's office reflected the character of Kaen himself at least passably, or at least provided some insight into him. It was admittedly a fairly spacious office, that could be roughly categorized as divided into four parts. At the entrance to his office appeared to be a relatively small area for entertaining visitors, or holding impromptu meetings, with a short table, and cushions set out in traditional Japanese fashion. A pot of tea still sat in the middle of this table, along with an empty tray and chopsticks near one of the cushions. Over to one side was a series of shelves and displays with numerous books, Japanese weapons, a few weights, and a small television set up in front of another cushion straight from the Human World, albeit one that looked like it might have been made in the early 90's. Then of course, there was the "main" working area of the office, featuring Kaen's large and elaborate desk, and numerous shelves and cabinets, currently covered in paperwork. Lastly was a small partitioned area, that, although Mizu likely could not see through the partition, was where Kaen typically slept each night, with a small dresser filled with his clothes, plus several hangars, and a small lamp.

Of course, both the Youji family crest and the symbol of the Seventh Division were displayed prominently throughout the office in banners along the wall, representing both the noble family Kaen hailed from, as well as the Division itself. At any rate, Kaen gestured for Mizu to have a seat at the table as she she greeted him. "Not a problem. This is going to take awhile anyways. I'm sure I have time to fit in a meeting, if you've come all the way from the 10th Division to speak with me." He said, rising from his desk and walking over to the table. "Would you care for some tea? I can heat some up. I could also call for food if you're hungry." He offered, playing the role of the dutiful host.

"There's no need to stand on ceremony at any rate. Speak freely, how can I help you today, Officer Tsuraiko." He inquired, standing attentively at the edge of the seating area. At least this didn't seem to be as urgent as when Fuuko had all but kicked down his door the other day. It didn't seem super high priority, but anything to take his mind off of the drudgery of paperwork.

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

Hearing him speak up, she paused, glancing around his office for a brief moment, and getting a brief sense of the place. But her attention was far more focused on him. Her shoulders laxed slightly, and those soft blue eyes regarding him... cautiously as he began to speak more gently. A moment before, he'd sounded almost dismissive. And so, as he began to warm a little and became a bit more friendly, she fell silent and watched him closely.

Hm. That certainly explained Mei's praise. He was nice. But she'd already known that. He reminded her a little of Chojiro.

...

Hm.

She paused as he insisted that it was fine, and that he had a moment to spare. "Are you sure? Usually we have our paperwork for the day filled out by Noon. But it's this late and you're still behind." She noted calmly. Perhaps the Captain was a bit lax, but one of the officers, in fact her predecesor as third seat, had been quite insistent on efficiency and the like. Annoyingly, a trait she had taken a liking to. Familiarity with paperwork had certainly helped her feel more comfortable. Once upon a time, she had feared it, that it might be something that led to her being found out somehwo. But once she came to understand it, she found that most humans hated it to. Interestingly enough. "But, if you insist...." She paused and lowered her head slightly, folding her hands infront of her.

"Lieutenant. I wish to make a request of you." She noted, beating around the bush? Perhaps, and she masked what seemed to be nervousness behind that professional demeanor. "If I might request. I had something more than tea in mind. Dinner. Specifically.I....I would like you. To have dinner with me. " Her voice was halting, and a bit muddled. This wasn't something she had a lot of experience with. She allowed her own, natural awkwardness to shine through. Intentionally of course. Whenever she got nervous, she had gotten into the habit of letting herself get a bit more shaky. Sometimes she found herself doing it even when no shinigami were around. The power of habit she supposed.

"Ahem. Lieutenant Youji. I would be very pleased if you would have dinner with me this evening. As a Date." She stated firmly.

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen gave a half-hearted shrug at the statement about his paperwork. "Different divisions, different assignments of tasks.... Besides, I'm a better field agent than I am an administrative one. Still, the work has to be done, and even if I delegate what I can to those more capable at this sort of thing than I am, some of these have to be reviewed by the Captain of the Division. And since we don't currently have a Captain, that responsibility falls to me for the moment. If I don't do it, it doesn't get done, and if it doesn't get done, important things get held up. I may not be the quickest pen in the Gotei 13, but I do what I can." He replied.

At any rate, Kaen let Mizu state her case, and a flash of surprise crossed his face. "O-oh." He replied. "I didn't expect that. Umm. Well." He scratched the back of his head. That was more forward than he'd expected, and he definitely hadn't seen that coming. He'd just met her and she'd asked him out like that? "I don't mind, but I don't want to give the wrong impression. I'm not exactly looking at the dating scene right now." He admitted, his own face flushing a bit, seemingly unsure of how to approach this topic. "But if you'd like to, I don't mind, as long as well... We're on the same page there. You seem nice, and I wouldn't mind the chance to get to know you a bit more." That was awkward, that was very, very awkward. Was he sending mixed signals? His experiences with Senshi flashed to the forefront of his mind. Oh geeze. No, he couldn't do that to someone again.

"Ahem... Err... If that's okay with you, did you have a place in mind? I can treat, no problem." He offered, the awkwardness still visible on Kaen's features; a certain look of being very out of his element and unsure how to proceed. For someone that was two centuries in age, he the lieutenant of the 7th Division was markedly inexperienced and unpracticed at anything beyond the talk-phase of the situation. He half expected Mizu to just storm out of the room, or politely say "thanks but no thanks" and leave, but with little to go on besides the four lines exchanged, and a quick dossier that he'd reviewed.... what, a year and a half ago, maybe? Kaen didn't have enough of a grasp on her personality to say for sure either way.

[Colt]

Mizu raised a brow slightly at that. "What sort of paperwork is your division even producing? As the Central Execution Force, Given investigative matters are generally handled by My Division, your division is in the facilitation and execution of punishment. Except that the Second Division is also sharing those duties in supervisory action. Have you been understaffed? Has there been issues with following up on Tenth Division? I hope none of our officers have been slacking." She ventured with a somewhat bewildered look on her face. Especially furrowing her brows at that last part.

Feasibly speaking, Kaen's division NORMALLY should have little to no actual work on a day to day basis. Unless it was during the seasons where they were performing quarterly audits? She wasn't sure when the next one was supposed to be. Hm. Perhaps an Audit of the Seventh Division would be in order. But it was then that she ...paused and realized she was focusing a bit too much on work. She narrowed her eyes and sighed, she could already hear Mei's voice.

"I.....sorry I'm. Erhem. Moving on from...paperwork." She murmured, folding her hands infront of her. She paused and ....made a bit of a face. Startled for the moment as Kaen.....DID say no. But not in the way she was hoping. She blinked a few times as he explained that he was not looking for such things. And she felt soemthing...alien. Annoyance. She knew she was pretty, and she was friendly. As a matter of face, she felt almost...angry!

How many times had her subordinates confessed feelings? How many times had she sensed with her Reikaku those stolen glances and looks? She was a catch! And this man, didn't so much as hesitate to turn her down?! Immediately her shoulders hunched anxiously as she ...struggled. She wasn't used to this. And suddenly she found herself floundering. "A-ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be so forward. I....uh..." That stern, professional face she'd had on moments before crumbled and she struggled as she tried to think.

She rubbed the side of her head and let out a sigh. "I...look." She leaned in and her voice lowered. "I get it. I.....if I'm being honest. I'm not really up for that sort of thing either." She confessed quietly. "I ....just need a date. MY friend has been ....worrying about me. She's been on me for months about my personal life , that I've been working too hard. And I've kept telling her and telling her that that's not really my thing." She sighed and slowly sank into the seat opposite of Kaen, rubbing her face.

"Look. I know I'm....not....you know." She reached up and ...pantomimed a large chest. "I get it. And I also get not really looking for that stuff. I'm a Third Seat, I know how much energy can be taken up by your work. But she's..... well I won't go into the details. But I just want to make her ...THINK that I've given it a shot." She explained, sitting upright for a moment and then standing straight up. Bowing at the waist as she lowered her head.

"I ...really don't care about all this. But if you would be so kind as to pretend to go on a date with me. I would greatly appreciate that." She noted very quietly. Hell she didn't even have to lie.

[Kaen Youji]

"Investigative matters are being handled by the 10th? I heard Celes was working on internal threat assessments, which does overlap with our duties, but we haven't had a chance to meet to discuss how that was going to work, and who was in charge of what responsibilities. Seems Celes has been as busy as I am, and arranging meetings with her is difficult. At any rate, while I'm not at liberty to discuss every report I have, and I'm certain a trained bureaucrat could go about my paperwork duties more efficiently and quickly, I do have work enough reviewing reports, arrests, our own threat assessments, not to mention..." He gestured to a stack of paperwork that was about as thick as a dictionary. "Trying to make sense of any investigations into the 12th Division. Half the time they look like they're written in a different language, and the other half of the time the officer in question is usually not in any condition to clarify weird details. And in those investigations it's almost never anything BUT weird details." Anyways.

The flickers of emotion across Mizu's face were not missed by the acting leader of the Internal Affairs unit. Kaen did have a skill when it came to reading people; far from perfect, certainly, but not incompetent by any stretch. There was a mixture of feelings and Kaen was about to give the smallest of sighs and state how it wasn't Mizu, it was him-- you know the exact kind of line that gets your body found in a ditch a few hours later with multiple stab wounds, when Mizu thankfully saved Kaen's life by coming clean.

"Oohhh.... Yeah, absolutely. I get that." Kaen replied, with a tone that actually said he very much did get the peer pressure she was enduring and it was not just an empty line. "We can go, you can let your friend know it didn't work out, they get off your back, we keep the planning phase quiet." Kaen could also get not going to Celes. He enjoyed Mizu's Captain's company very much. However he also understood it would be about a fifty-fifty coin flip that Celes didn't just start teasing Mizu even more.

Kaen walked back over to his desk, straightened out some papers, put his writing quill away, picked up Hachiryuu and slung the Zanpakuto around his back. "Did you have a time and place in mind, or does heading out right now work for you?" He inquired, already looking ready to go. Honestly, a chance to get away from his terrifying, awful paperwork was welcome."I know a few places we can get something to eat, but I'm up for new places. And I'll still cover the bill." Perks of nobility, Kaen certainly had cash to burn. He may not have liked his noble heritage very much, but he wasn't afraid of taking advantage of the benefits of being connected to a noble family.

Of course if word got out about this date, he'd probably get an angry letter or visit from his father, but he'd deal with that when he came to it. Live in the moment, right? The future was always uncertain.

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

Mizu tilted her head slightly at that and closed her eyes with a soft sigh. Never had she imagined before coming here that the Gotei would be so disorganized and poorly communicated internally. "You really should have that discussion. If not I can try and speak to her about a more formal writeup The last thing we need is making more work unnecessarily." She noted with a sigh, folding her arms for a moment before a slight smile formed on her lips. Hm, it was nice to speak with someone outside of her squad about this.

Still, she was glad to see that Kaen could understand her, and after a few moments her eyes widened. Wait, him too? She had assumed that because he was popular with women that he simply went along with it. But ....was he the same? "W-wait really?! Do your friends keep trying to set you up on dates too?!" She insisted! Standing up straight as her eyes shine without her even realizing. Suffice to say, Mei was the worst offender. But she was hardly the ONLY one that was trying to set her up. And sometimes it led to some awful situations.

"I'm glad it's not just me. I mean....well..you know. I'm sorry that you also go through that kind of thing. But it's kinda nice that I'm not alone." She chuckled softly, a sigh escaping her as she rubbed her temple. "I just really don't get it. Even in the Academy, all my classmates were so........after eachother. I was hoping that things would ease up once we became officers." She shook her head and folded her arms across her chest before glancing back to Kaen and smiling. Pleased that he was up for this bit of deception. Though she did pause for a moment at that.

"I think I know a place that will work well. It's also close by actually. I don't know much about dates, but Mei always tells me about hers so I think we can make this work." She noted and tapped her chin a she thought back about the stories Mei told. "We'll have to think of some small talk. As much as I'd prefer it, we can't talk about work. Mai has made that clear that thats not a social norm. Do you have any talk about famioly we could use to fill up a good half hour? I don't really have any family to speak of. Or any hobbies." She conceded, tapping her chin.

"Still. I suppose it depends on how you want to play this off. Sadly I don't think they would buy that you're so boring that I'd leave early. And we're both high seated officers, I can't imagine we could get away with calling you cheap. We could head to your place early and I could say the sex was poor." She murmured calmly, tapping her chin for a moment and then glancing at Kaen. "Is your penis small?"

Utterly unaware that perhaps, her friend had....atypical dating Habits.

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen nodded. "You're probably not wrong, but there are a great many things to do, and unfortunately only so many hours in a day. Anyways though. If you want to try and organize something that's fine too. Not like I dislike your Captain's company." Kaen commented, with a grin. Although details of their recent clash were GREATLY muddled, Kaen hadn't had a fight like his battle against Celes in some time, and was more than eager to go for a round 2 any time. ...They could probably talk shop while they were hospitalizing one another. Probably. Or at least they'd have plenty of time to talk while recovering in Squad 4!

"Well. Less my friends, though a few of the Squad does, yeah. Plenty of jabs, talking and just suggesting I hit the dating scene. But also familial. Whether I like it or not, I'm the scion of the Youji family, and to hear my parents speak of it, that comes with certain responsibilities like ensuring a familial heir. And at a little over two hundred years old and single, I'm really behind the curve on that one, and they're getting antsy about it." He replied. "It's not the end of the world, but when I'm showing up at Squad 4 two or three times a month in critical condition, I guess they can't help but feel nervous that I'm going to kick off into my next life before settling down. So there's been a bit of a pressure there for awhile."

"A bit" of a pressure was an understatement, judging by how Kaen's mother had been not-so-subtly setting him up to meet other noblewomen of Soul Society at basically every family gathering for the last decade. But he gave a shrug. "If it comes to it, I can roll with it. It's annoying but I don't really find myself interested in pursuing any random person at this point just because." Especially when in Kaen's own mind he'd already found a connection with someone (even though it was one-sided, complicated by Kaen not being aware it was one-sided), and anyone else trying to get into his life in that way would have to deal with that particular obstacle.

"I don't think it needs to be anything fancy, and we can probably just learn a bit about each other. Smalltalk's fine of course. Anyways, feel free to lead the way, Miss Tsuraiko, you seem to know where you're going!" He did think for a moment. "As an aside, while I agree that being too pushy isn't any good, I do think that the ability to form bonds is one of the bigger strengths we have as Shinigami, and that is something to be embraced." He commented, offhandedly. "Having something beyond your own life to fight for is... well it can let you really draw on reserves of power you didn't know you had." He commented.

"But yeah, if you want to ask questions about me, that's fine. Fire away if you want to." Kaen asked, only to be immediately flummoxed by the next question that was inquired about that. "O-ho-kay, that was not the question I was expecting. You know you could always just say it didn't work out. I mean we're going to a place where there'll be witnesses to see that yes, we did go there, Mei can just ask the owner of the place if we were there-- I'll make sure he doesn't forget, I'd appreciate you not spreading a rumor like that around!" Kaen flustered out.

"Besides, anyone who's known me would know that I'm not the kind of person to do that on a first date anyways." He added.

[Colt]

Mizu made a face at that and narrowed her eyes almost suspiciously at Kaen. As if sussing out some ulterior motive in the vice Captain. But she decided to make no further comment about the situation. After all, it was bad enough they got into such vicious fights, and she sighed a little as she was reminded of her own fight with the old Captain of the Tenth Division. The memory of Captain Hotaru struggling as she drowned was definitely something she didn't enjoy remembering. The panic that had come with it was awful.

Still. She paused and raised her brows as he went into the lengths to which he had been pressured. His friends, his Squad. And his....family? She tilted her head ever so slightly, but there was not a shred of empathy or understanding as he explained such a thing to her. She had no idea what kind of pressure he was talking about. After all, she and her sister had been orphans. And some small part of her wondered. IF Mizu had still been alive.....would she have wanted her to find someone?

She grew deathly silent as that ....foreign thought cut through her train of thought. And for just an instant, she barely even heard him. Her own mind briefly closing in on itself as her mind shifted to something she hadn't thought about in more than three years. Her sister. And something.... struck her. A menral image. The thought of Mizu standing across from her. Having seen everything she'd done up until this point. And she .....she didn't know what the feeling was. A mix of .....dread and pain in her chest. The memory of what her sister looked like. Something she saw in the mirror every day. And her mind wandered to the line. Where her real sister had had a hole bowln through her.

She didn't even realize she was clenching her fists, and as she snapped back to the cuddent conversation, her eyes had stung and begun to tear. She reached up and rubbed her eyelids, pausing when the soft wet caught on her palms. Only to glance back up at Kaen. Ah, right. "Ah..... right." Pretending she'd heard what he'd said and then promptly asking him her follow up question. Though his response was a little...strange? "What do you mean? IS sex not a part of dating?" She murmured in genuine confusion. Certainly Mei had spoken about it like it was. She honestly hadn't actually cared enough to really delve into that subject.

That said.... her mind shifted back to what he'd said a moment before. About his family and the whole heir business. And she recalled back to when Mei had been dating someone for an unusually long ammount of time. Honestly it had seemed serious. But when they'd broken up, everyone had given her quite a lot of space and she blinked a few times in realization as he talked about playing it off as having not gone well. And in that moment, she was struck with a sudden idea, staring off to the side before she smiled just a little and perked up. A strangely innocent and naive smile forming.

"But what if we....didn't? What if we pretended it went very well?" She asked softly, almost in a hushed tone as she reached up and stroked her chin.

She turned around for a moment and looked toward the door, standing up as her mind raced.... and then turned to look back at Kaen. That smile slowly growing. "What if we...PRETEND to start dating? If we have it not go well, then it won't be long until they just start pressuring us a gain. Ugh. I can already hear Mei. 'Plenty of fish in the sea'. She loves saying that. But...if we pretend to hit it off." She turned to look back at KAen and that smile turned into a grin. "We can get them off our backs for much longer. Theres plenty of my friends who have been going out for years without any progress." She then snapped her fingers.

"And when we SAY we're going out on dates. We can just go out and relax, train. Or even do WORK!" Her face lit up and then she glanced back to Kaen. Curious to see how he was taking to the idea. Ah.... She paused and ...slowed her roll just a little. After all, this ... WAS a bit more on the deceptive side of things. Which sucked, because it was a great idea. But well, all that talk baout Squad Seven Pride. She did wonder if this might be against his sensibilities. "Of course uh. If that's a bit much I understand." She added, and let her hands gently clasp together and rest infront of her. Giving him time to think it over and respond.

[Victor Beaumont]

Kaen raised an eyebrow at Mizu. "You don't socialize much huh? I mean.... Kinda? It can be part of dating, and it's often a part of dating, but it's not necessarily a part of dating. Some people do, some people don't, it kind of varies from individual to individual. There's a lot of people that don't believe in that kind of physical intimacy until after they've tied the knot, so-to-speak." He replied, slightly surprised at Mizu's commentary, and wasn't sure if that was a jab at him, or a genuine uncertainty in her question.

As far as Mizu's suggestion, Kaen gave a small sigh. "I'm... not so sure about that. As much as I'm not on the dating scene, the bachelor lifestyle suits me. We can play it by ear, besides, you don't want my parents to take notice of this situation. Believe me on that one." He replied. As far as he knew there was no "Tsuraiko" noble family, which meant as far as his parents' were concerned, Mizu had nothing to offer but her rank within the Seireitei and that... wouldn't be enough. Kaen would probably face worse harassment for that. And while if there was the emotional connection, he'd have no problem going to bat and standing his ground, he was certainly not prepared to do that for a fake relationship.

"They might be off your back longer, but I'd have to deal with a variety of different complications." He replied. "You probably would too, to be honest." He scratched at the back of his head. "Besides, if you want to train or help me with my work-- well if you want to train, you have only to ask. I do a lot of work training my officers, I'd have no problem if you wanted to join in as well. Though from what I've seen from Celes, you have a very competent trainer herself. Captain Nakajima was a student of hers, after-all." And as far as Kaen knew, Celes's training of Kimiko had started while Celes had still been a Captain. To train someone from Academy student to Captain level combatant in such a short timeframe was certainly remarkable. Even Kaen's training hadn't yielded fruits like that-- although he did acknowledge that Hikari would certainly give trouble to most lieutenants in the Gotei 13.

"But either way, let's see how things work out tonight and we'll go from there, does that work fine for you?" Kaen offered as he walked alongside the third seat.

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

Mizu paused and tilted her head for a moment at that, taking in the information. So Mei wasn't a floozy or anything, it just seemed that Kaen was a bit of a prude? Wait, Tying the Knot? "Ah, you're a furry. I suppose that explains some things." She murmured, folding her arms and tapping her chin thoughtfully as she took in this new bit of info. Not that she really cared, but it was something to make note of. Should she tell the other girls? Probably not.

Still, she was a bit annoyed when he mentioned the possible consequences of her plan. Puffing her cheeks just a little and furrowing her brows. Tch, why did Shinigami have to be so damn complicated? They wanted them to mate, but they wanted to be picky about their choice? They might even be worse than humans. Well, at least they weren't as bad as quincy. Still, though, she did feel a bit deterred that her master plan apparently had some flaws. She let out a crestfallen sigh. And she'd been so looking forward to getting some peace and quiet. "Wait are you serious? It can get WORSE?!" A very genuine exclamation. Ugh.

Still, she listened closely as Kaen explained a bit more into the situation. But that said... she paused and blinked a few times. Wait.... play it by ear? "Er....wait. But ...didn't you say, it might get worse for you? You said yourself I'd really be the only one who might benefit from this. If that's true you'd have no reason to agree." She pointed out and furrowed her brows. Still a bit confused. Sure, if it was one of her simpy little subordinates she could have imagined that it was 'for her sake'. But shedidn't know why Kaen would humor such a thing. Or perhaps did he have some other potential options in mind?

She smiled just a bit at that. "Well now you have me curious. For the time being, lets go have our first date." She hummed, a brief sly little smirk before promptly transitioning into a ...softer, warm look toward the man. Reaching out and promptly taking his hand in her own and leading him off. Thankfully the place that she had in mind wasn't all that far away. A few minutes of walking and they'd arrive at the Rabbit's Wings. It was a nice off-the-beaten path inn actually. But they had a diner attached to it. And Mizu promptly smiled and waved once the staff spotted them.

"Miss Tsuraiko! Well it's been a while! How have you been?" An excited exclamation as the woman spotted them, their own expression almost matching Mizu's as the both of them perked up. Certainly it seemed Mizu came here often, and after a brief little bit of Catching up, they cast their attention toward Kaen. "And you have a Date! Well I'll be. Pleasure to meet you Sir. Will you to be taking a table or a booth?" She asked, clearly a bit pleased and excited to see the Third Seat toting around a date. And it was at that point that Mizu glanced to Kaen. "Got a preference?"

From where he was Kaen would see the place was nice. Cosy little boothes with curtains that could be left open or drawn over. And of course there were a number of tables of varying sizes. Mostly big party tables, but also a few smaller ones. And of course the bar that was off to the side. Certainly there was a fair bit of variety depending on what sort of evening they were looking for. And well, Kaen seemed to have more experience than she did. So she would defer to his decision on where they should sit.

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen's eyebrow arched. That was some human world slang he wasn't familiar with at all. "I... what? I don't even know what that is." He replied in a quizzical tone. "But I don't... think I am? It's hard to say when I don't know what it is, but it doesn't sound like something I am." He added, still looking a bit puzzled. Did that imply he had fur somewhere? That was weird, why would humans have an expression for that? He was sure he was missing something in the phrase but couldn't work out what it was.

At Mizu's outburst though, he gave a low chuckle. "Yes. Yes it can. I hate talking about it though, because it comes off as elitist, but... honestly, that's how most noble family's in Soul Society are. Mine is no exception. They set arbitrary values, and use those arbitrary values to measure someone's worth. If someone doesn't measure up to that idea of worth, then they couldn't care less about them." He stated. "Honestly, if we let that rumor run around, pretty soon I and you would be dealing with people coming to harass both of us into dropping it, I expect." He added for clarification.

"Which I mean, wouldn't be hard, cause we're faking it, but still. It's really no change, except for, I guess, that there's no friendly warmth in it on your end. It sounds like your friends are just doing their best to look out for you, they're just misguided, right? Same as my family's trying to look out for me. They think they know what's best for me. They're wrong, but they're not pushing me with malice, just misguided love. At least that's what I think it is." He stated.

"Anyways, that's fair enough." He replied. "I guess I wasn't thinking. I try too hard to be polite and genial. I try to protect the feelings of everyone around me-- even my enemies." He said. "It leads to me saying some very stupid things." Kaen shook his head. "It's a bad habit, I guess. On I should be working on outgrowing. I dunno. There's too much strife in the three worlds and I don't like adding to it." But he accompanied Mizu, taking her hand and letting her take point.

Kaen had been in this area before of course, but never really stopped to take in the sights or meals. He had his favorite haunts, and quite frankly, the food at the Squad 7 barracks was usually sufficient for him. Even if it wasn't, he was usually too busy to take serious detours or side trips. Mizu's right about one thing, I do need to get out more. Kaen thought to himself, realizing how much his days basically revolved around his routine. He'd wake up relatively early in the morning and eat breakfast on his way to the division's training yard, where most of his morning would be spent running drills with the division and his own personal training. A short break for lunch, some additional training for himself, and then return to his office to run paperwork right into the evening. Dinner and then either more training, or more paperwork until he passed out. Rinse and repeat unless there was a mission or the repetitiveness grew to such an extent that he voluntarily put himself on field assignments to the human world, which was distressingly often, if only to keep himself from going mad.

Speaking of, he should go hang out with Shizuka again sometime soon. Or grab a bite to Camila. Or go hang out with the Empress. Honestly, as much as Kaen worked at things, he probably could have used more breathers. Still... still though. He didn't want to let the 7th down. He wanted to make sure the 7th ran as clear and smooth as it possibly could, and elevate the division back to its days of being known as the most formidable and powerful division in Soul Society.

"Rabbit's Wings huh? Never heard of it." And given the standing order in Squad 7 that absolutely nothing even remotely resembling a bunny was allowed in the division's territory it was a clear sign they'd moved beyond it. But it seemed Mizu certainly did, and Kaen accompanied her along, looking around at the decor as Mizu led him through. Kaen smiled and gave a short bow to their hostess. "A pleasure to meet you. Lieutenant Youji of the 7th Division." He introduced himself briefly. "Oh, as for seating, I'm sure we'll be fine with whatever you recommend, thank you."

Kaen let himself be led to their seating arrangement and took a seat, to look round the diner. "This is definitely a nice seeming place. Very.... I think the normal word would be "homey"." Of course that word had a very different meaning to Kaen, but in the common phrasing it seemed adequate. "You must come by often if they all know you by name. Do you have any recommendations, tonight, Mizu?" Kaen asked, leaning in to using her first name to pull off the fake date image a little more convincingly.

[Colt]

"I believe it's a term for those who....as you said, would intend to tie the knot first." She noted calmly, not really spending too much time on the subject as after all, the rest of the conversation turned out to be far more interesting. And she couldn't help but be a bit startled. "Huh... really? I'm kinda...surprised. I'd have thought the famile of KAen would be more uh...meritocratic?" She chuckled, intrigued to say the least. After all, Kaen's fame was by and large attached to his determination, strength, but ALSO his very stringent principles. Not to mention his protectiveness of his squad, what with him challenging the Shihoin to keep them out of his squad.

"I guess even then I suppose I don't exactly know how my reputation would carry over...." She rubbed the back of her neck, and did wonder what hers was. She'd been careful to craft an image after all. Ironically one that just felt natural to her now. Studious. Gentle. Warm. But humans could be so fickle. For all she knew, she was far more known for her ....struggles with socialization. Hm. Perhaps it simply came off as shy? She had, after all, chosen behaviors which garnered certainl reactions and behaviors. But ultimately, that didn't mean she understood the long term reputation that built. Hm.

But well. Hearing Kaen suddenly apologize, she tilted herhead and then broke out into laughter. "Did you seriously just think about agreeing with my plan JUST to help me out?" She ventured, a bit ..... genuinely amused. It certainly was something to expect from humans and shinigami. But still, having it directed at her in this situation was..... funny. And she gave a gentle little smile as she looked over her shoulder at the man. A few heads had turned their way, and she was reminded they were still in public. May as well sell the situation. Turning mid-stride, Mizu smiled as she briefly slipped into Kaen's path and then leaned in.

She delivered a gentle, vchaste kiss to the man's cheek. Perhaps he'd be thrown off, but if nothing else, she'd find that all the more entertaining. "You're far too sweet for your own good." She pointed out, before she turned and finished leading him into the establishment itself. Of course she simply smiled at Kaen's assessment. "Every now and then." She noted dismissively. Not going into full detail, as after all, she mnostly just came by now and then. Again,her demeanor simply had a way of drawing the attentions of those around her.

Since he gave no preference, she chose one of the more private tables off to the side over a booth. After all, they were intending for others to take notice after all. Once they took their seats, one of the staff came by to drop off water and see if they wanted something to drink. Mizu of course just asked for water, before turning her attention back to the Lieutenant. "If you don't mind me asking. What is it like? Having such a large family. I came from the rukongai, so I admit I'm.... not exactly familiar..." She trailed off, looking out toward the dark window and giving a soft, forlorn smile.

Her memories once again drifted to those unpleasant places. About if her sister had still been around. IF she'd never become a hollow. Would she have still wound up where she was? "I've always wondered what it was like...having people worry about you when you're growing up. I guess for nobles it's.... different. You have a whole life of that sort of thing. I don't even remember what my life as a human was like..." She noted quietly, pausing as she took a moment to think about such a thing. She had the faintest memory about when she'd died. After all, she'd been a plus, and her Sister had come to konso her. But .... when she was ALIVE?

She couldnt' even remember the slightest detail. She turned and looked back to the Lieutenant, reaching out and gently taking his hand. Mostly, for appearances. And perhaps, just a little for herself as well. She was beginning to see why all of her friends thought so highly of him. That earnestness of his. It made it easy to push concerns aside. That comforting stubbornness.