Walk Through The Shadows [PG-13, NDE, Semi-Open]

[Zeich Yajuu]

(OOC: This thread is open to any Shinigami or any other race who can move around the Rukongai without drawing suspicion, i.e. obvious Hollows or demons, etc won't cut it.))

It was sundown. The sun started to sink beneath the horizon, setting it ablaze with a mix of gold and orange, hiding half of the Rukongai in darkness as shadows lengthened with the fall of the glowing orb. Though it was quickly becoming nighttime, the “lower class” of souls that lived in District 24 didn’t seem to change their routines very much. Many of them didn’t even raise their heads to notice the falling sun; some of the younger children headed towards their homes, while many of the adults went into one of the nearby bars in order to drink away yet another long day, never changing. It seemed like a constant flow, almost as repetitive as the ocean waves crashing against a cliff.

Golden eyes beheld them as they did almost every day. Whenever he wasn’t on duty, Zeich would often leave the Seireitei and go to one of the districts halfway between it and the wilderness outside of the Rukongai. Perching on one of the rooftops, or perhaps leaning against one of the walls like some of the residents of the slum, the artificial Shinigami continued to observe the actions and routines of others on a daily basis. Shinigami were all the same, however; though their personalities varied as humans tended to, their actions, their goals, and their thoughts seemed to be very similar. Killing Hollows, fighting for superiority among themselves, defending the Seireitei from any sort of assault… around Zeich, that pattern never changed much. Therefore he went down to the Rukongai, where survival was never assured for the souls down there, where they lived to their fullest every day as if it would be the last.

And there he watched. Today, Zeich was simply walking along the streets of the district. His long, silver hair blocked the view of his eyes for the most part, allowing him to see fairly well while disguising the golden irises from sight. He had learned the hard way that people did not take his unusual eyes. During his survey of District 32, he had been called out as a monster and a freak as they had seen him, and there had been murmurs of him being a Hollow or some other creature. The young man hadn’t exactly fled at their scorn, but he had altered his route to take him out of the district before he headed back to the Seireitei for the day.

Everything seemed quiet today, compared to the usual bustle of the Rukongai districts. Men and women walked together as they talked, while some leaned against walls in groups. Children ran underfoot, some pickpockets and thieves while others were simply having innocent fun. The sounds of rowdy laughter could be heard from one of the nearby bars as people started on their evening revelry. It seemed tonight was fairly peaceful, though Zeich expected some incident to start up at some point. Humans never seemed to be able to avoid conflict, always fighting amongst themselves.

He paused at that line of thought. I’m human too… so why do I see them as “different” humans? I need to remember that I’m no different aside from the means of my creation…

Shaking his head to try and clear it, Zeich continued his walk. Was that really true? So many times he wondered why people seemed so odd and unusual to him. Perhaps he really was different, not even fit to be called “human.” He sighed softly, but didn’t pause in his walk. Why was he trying so hard to be like everyone else, anyway? Didn’t humans value their individuality, their unique nature that made them who they were? And even if they didn’t, what did he have to prove? He just had his duty to purify Hollows and protect the Soul Society. That was his life, nothing more to it.

He couldn’t help but feel that there was something missing though, almost like a hole through him that he couldn’t fill with any amount of duty. The artificial Shinigami couldn’t understand why he felt this way, or what this feeling even was; his training as a person had been minute, simple, compared to his training as a Shinigami, which had been extensive. Now he had to wonder… what was he missing?

[Okusa Shogen]

"DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE!"

Slash a little here, and slash a little there, Okusa was damned happy to have cupcakes in the morning. With a cupcake in his left hand, and his big sword in his right, Okusa was having fun in that morning. He shoved the cupcake into his mouth, chewing on it. At the same time, using a sword that was four times the size of an ordinary katana in every way, Okusa slashed and caused huge shockwaves that blew apart trees. See, he was in the forest. He was doing his morning exercises, but differently than usual. The giant Squad 10 Captain, over seven feet tall and packed with muscle, was usually used to doing harsh things for his morning exercises. He warmed up by carving things with sword strokes and shockwaves, and then got to the main exercises.

On this fine day, Okusa had decided that he would do that while eating cupcakes. Harsh exercises and cupcakes seemed to make quite a good combination. He'd bought a lot of those, and there was a big gray sack on a large tree stump next to where Okusa was training. He finished each cupcake in one humongous bite. He was determined that he'd actually steal and mimic the recipe to these later, and then improve them. He was a cook in the first place, anyway. Okusa was slashing while laughing wildly, and also eating the cup cakes. He was a jolly fellow for that day, because it had just started out so well for him! He woke up, bought cupcakes, and went training. What could be a better day than that? One where someone strong showed up to fight him!

"KAHAHAHAHAHA! I FORGOT WHAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT! OH YEAH! I REMEMBER! TURKEYS!"

Okusa was talking to himself while beatboxing a bit. Cupcake into the mouth again, and sword strike to the tree again. The giant tree near Rukongai collapsed over, falling with a mighty crash. Debris and dust flew everywhere, and it would be hard for anyone within a mile of that area to not notice the sheer destruction that Okusa's morning training left in its wake. After a bit of that, Okusa jammed his sword into the ground, and then he got in a push up position. He punched the ground with great force, which ricocheted around, at last turning something on. Blades flew from above, and started slamming into Okusa's back while he did push ups with one hand, and ate cupcakes with the other. It was just as he'd thought! Cupcakes made the morning better, and more complete.

"IN THE MORNING AFTER THIS I'M GOING TO TRY SNOW CONES AND DOUGHNUTS. HAHAHAHAHA! WAIT, WHAT DID I JUST SAY? OH YEAH! SNOW CONES!!!! SNOOOOWWWW COOONEEEESSSS! FUUUCCCKKK YEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

Okusa was thirty minutes into other harsh exercises, and had blood dripping from wounds all over his body, though they seemed to hardly affect him, if he noticed them at all, when he noticed something else. He stood there baffled and stared while eating cupcakes and taking his sword back out of the ground. It was a squirrel. And it wasn't just any squirrel. It was a squirrel with a fluffy tail. So it was just any squirrel. It didn't even matter. It was a fucking squirrel. And then, behind it, there was a bear. Okusa's attention was suddenly caught by the bear, rather than the squirrel. He started cracking up in place.

"YOUUUUU! BIG SQUIRREL! YOU'RE GOING TO BE MY PET NOW!!!! HAHAHAHAHA! HOW? I DON'T KNOW! I'LL FIGHT YOU TOE TO TOE! KAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

Okusa sheathed his sword on his back, and then ran up to the bear and started punching at it. The bear stood there, completely shocked by this random lunatic of a man that was suddenly wailing on it. In a few seconds, the bear and Okusa were laying next to each other, and Okusa was calmly petting the bear. The bear was actually cuddling to Okusa, tamed apparently. Okusa had just tamed a fully grown bear.