Beauty and the Beastman, Innocent Thief [Social, Pg-13]

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

Shouting was always a strange thing for Ajraka, especially when it came to things like words pelted in her direction like spears or throwing knives. But in any sort of case it was by far nothing of her own concern, especially when she didn't understand half the things that were shouted after her anyway. Then again she hardly found it satisfying if she didn't get a little nosie out of them. In district 48 of the Rukongai, she was completely unaware that shinigami were in the area, so she'd done what she'd always done. She'd found herself a nice house and bagged the shiniest thing she could find. 

The object itself was some sort of heirloom. A Broach or something, not that she knew what it was. It was shiny, sparkly, and had a nice solidness to it. Evenwhen she banged it off the ground it didn't even chip, so it was pretty nice compared to the things she usually snagged. She'd found herself a nice puddle off near one of the larger houses. Some sort of fountain. The inhabitants weren't around, at least thus far, and she'd decided to get a little soak in the fountain, clothes and all. 

She smiled lightly to herself as she laid on her back, floating along the surface of the water as se let the broach rest on her chest, idly staring up as the water spouted from the thing. She'd seen water act like that before, always so.....weird. She wondered how it did that sometimes, but....the glimmer of sunlight off her little prize distracted her, and a wide smile spread along her face as she reached into a nearby pool, frowning as she did. Drat. 

Setting the broach to clip onto one of her belts she made her way over to the pool a bit further  away from her little spot in the fountain, moving on all fours as she did so. The pool itself was a koi pond, a rather expansive one too. Just looking into the pond made her stomach quiver and made her mouth fill with saliva. A smirk spread across her lips and she dove in. The fish reacted immediately as she race through the water, snapping playfully at her food, scaring them into a frenzy before snagging one and slipping out of the water, laughing as she went back to the fountain, cracked the fish solidly against the edge, then slipped back into the water to enjoy her, in her opinion, well-earned meal. 

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{The Little thief Herself}

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Getting out of the house and out of the Seireitei was relaxing for the Kidou Corps Commander. His life had been slowing down ever since the failed attack on Las Noches, and the wounds he gained had taken their toll on him. He could no longer train the way he used to, practicing Kidou after Kidou, because of his scar that burned every time he put out reiatsu. He had to find better things to do with his time than inflict unnecessary pain on himself, so he took to reading books, researching, and walking. A lot of walking.

Today he walked out of the Seireitei, allowed out by the Gatekeeper, and merely took a stroll through the Rukongai. All of his spiritual presence was compressed completely, so no one was harmed as he leisurely walked. However, he looked like a Captain, and walked like a noble, so he definitely got a few stares. A couple poorer kids asked for his autograph, then ran away quickly and pawned it for a toy or something, which irked him a little, but he remembered being like that before his cousin Sozen had adopted him. Everything was a chore when you're poor.

At least the kids didn't have to worry about hunger. With little to no spiritual talent, a soul in the Rukongai didn't want for water or bread. Maybe that is why the otter in the fountain caught Kyomei's eye. The girl... animal... being... had a shiny brooch clipped to her clothes, because she was wearing clothes, and was chowing down on a fish from the fountain. Normal animals didn't really live up here, normal animals didn't really wear clothes, and normal spiritual beings didn't need to eat.

Remembering the drunk Captain Raion, Kyomei thought that maybe she was very much like the big fuzzy man. So, with nothing better to do, he made his way over to her. "Whatcha got there, young one?" He was in the habit of speaking to other people as if he was older, because, well, he was fairly old. And he was very used to training younger Shinigami, and fostering their potential. The man sat down on the edge of the fountain, far out of the way of the member of the Beast clan, not appearing threatening at all.

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

Spiritual pressure sensing certainly wasn't something she was good at, and for one so relaxed she was not too alert. However her instincts did tell her when something ominous. Like birds flocking before a natural disaster. Not to mention Kyo wasn't exactly sneaking. As he entered the couryard, she laid her head back along the ground, looking at the man upside-down from her current position, immediately getting onto all fours, the fish in her mouth as she watched him...carefully.

He looked different from the other two-leggers, and she certainly noted there was no insane stench of filth, but then again not many smelled like that in the richer areas of the rukongai. She narrowed her eyes slightly, the koi in her mouth crunching as she bit down and snapped it's spine in the process, her eyes darting left and right, as if pondering escape, that was before he spoke to her. Something she knew had meaning, just....not something entirely cared to bother listening to. Se settled down slightly, seeming to relax as she stared at the man, looking him over with surprisingly inquisitive eyes for an animal. Inklings of intelect behind them as her eyes didn't just rove and study like a beast's, but stopped on individual items. His Zanpaku'to if he carried it on him. His robes. His Shoes. His Wrists. Areas that were normally adorned. However there was something that caught her eye. Her eyes were drifting up to his hed when she spotted his hair clips.

She stared for several moments, and a brief thought process ran through her mind as she went through her usual gig when it came to shiny-clad souls. Immediately she made her way over to the man's feet, dropping the fish infront of him. (Back in the day she tried slapping them with it. Did NOT go well). Before plopping onto her rear and leaning against the man's legs, smiling as she did. This was typically a response that got them to either back off or kneel down to inspect her. It was the second one she was hoping and counting on. She didn't know exactly why it was they did it, but it made stealing things a whole lot easier. Of course, if they did nothing, or backed off, then it was pretty much her time to make a surprise leap and try to snag the thing. Even shinigami found her to be unusually fast. Something that had earned her many a shiny in the past.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

The otter with hair slunk over the the Commander and dropped a fish by his feet. He was curious as to why she abandoned her meal, with its spine broken and the blood dripping out of it, but he didn't protest. He saw it as a gift of good will, and as she leaned against his legs, he did kneel down to try and scratch her behind the ears. He wasn't sure how to treat a seemingly intelligent creature, but he knew how people generally treated pets. So he decided to be gentle and caring towards her and see where it led.

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

Ajraka was mildly surprised when he touched her. That was something the smaller ones usually did. Not often adults touched her, what with all the stay wild animals that were around, though not that she understood the rational behind all that. However she did understand that he was much closer now. So she allowed the touching for now, relaxing as he did so. She wasn't paying attention to the scratching, though it did seem oddly pleasant and unpleasant in the same time, odd. But in the meantime she leaned up and smiled at him, even as that dexterious tail of hers moved slowly up, careful not to touch the man and alarm him as she would then aim to give him a sharp smack on the back of the head at which point she would try to snag the hair clips from his head.

From there there were two possible occurrences which could result from the little exchange. For one, if she managed to successfully attain the hair clips, she'd immediately bite them, to test the durability, before she'd roll onto her side, relax, and generally ignore the man as she looked at the object. The object would pretty much occupy her, and reardless of his actions her attention would remain on the clips as she looked them over and he could pretty much do what he wanted, be that trying to get them back or carrying her off.

Though if she failed, oh it would be quite the game at that point. A playful look would cross that short muzzle and she'd grin at the man as she'd begin to crawl in circles around him on all fours, watching him carefully before she'd dart in to try and snag them again. It would no doubt soon become a game of playful snaps of her teeth, swats with her tail, and grabs for the hairpins.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Kyomei watched as she reached for his head, and allowed the action. He was far faster than her, and was capable of keeping up with her, but he felt no hostility nor did he feel any sort of threat from her, however, he was happy that she didn't take the yellow band from his wrist, instead going for the red one in his hair. The cloth hair band with the small metal connector along his wrist, hidden by his sleeve was his favorite, and he could be parted with the other one more easily.

The otter played around with the hair band, biting at the metal to test its durability and then rolling around on the ground. She seemed to like shiny things, as she had the brooch on her clothes and the metal of the band in her mouth. The Kuchiki had no other shiny things but his other hair bands and his uchigatana sword he belts to his side in place of a Zanpakutou, and he wasn't about to give her that. Instead, he simply picked up a rock and performed what must have seemed like magic.

Kyomei poked the rock, and using his knowledge of a few Kidou and Kidou fusion, used a technique to transmute stone into metal. He combined Amimono Shimokumo and Tetsu Supaiku, taking the element from the latter and the effect of the former. He now was holding a very shiny metal rock, which he playfully held up in the air for her to grab at.

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

Ajraka's eyes went wide, and she immediately slipped the hair clips onto one of her many belts. Transfized by that globe of shiny amazingness she immediately went for it, clearly intent on it's lustrous form as she would try and hold onto it and chew on it. Even if he refused to let go of it she'd simply hug herself onto his arm like a leech and start teething on the object curiously, almost like a shark in that she seemed to nip at things she wanted to know more information about.

Inside that mind of hers, intelligence that never had ever bothered to make itself known, suddenly sparked. Something complex, complex beyond her level of understanding, had visibly produced something she very much wanted, something she VERY much liked. And for the first time, it occurred to her that she might benefit from learning more about what had happened, so much so tht regardless of the success of her endeavors. She wouldactually stare, before tearing herself away from the rock, scampering to the nearest rock, picking it up, and handing it to the shinigami, holding it up and producing a sudden.
"Ah!"
It was not a screm, batle cry, or anything of the sort. It was simply a....verbal prompt that lacked language to mold it. A clear language barrier existed, and for the first time she had use for language. So she tried to see if this person could do it again. Probably the most complex though she'd had in the last one hundred years.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

The girl scampered up his arm and grabbed at the rock with her teeth, nibbling at it while she hugged him. He hadn't let go, so she had been required to do that to get any sort of interaction with the metal. However, she got a bright idea, and she left his arm to go get another rock and hand it to him. He definitely saw intelligence and logic in the otter girl, and as he touched it again and converted it to metal, the pain in his scar wasn't the only thing he felt. He felt like she could be a friend, a companion, a pet if nothing more. Sure, she was intelligent, but not capable of social interaction just yet. He could easily take her in and help her grow, or just feed her and give her shiny things if she wanted them. She'd be like a young daughter to him... And he really liked that idea.

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

Ajraka stared in wonder, completely surprised by the feat he had accomplished. Staring between the two rocks, she smiled and looked at the rock now in herhands, proceeding to chew on it fervently, confirming that it was indeed the metal she thought it was. And with a warm smile on her face got up, a bit shakily at first before she used her tail to keep her balance. She thought for a moment before she gavewhat could loosely be considered a bow. IT was something humans did when there was an exchange of really good gifts that she'd seen. IT was something she'd never had the use to emulate well....until now.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

The girl new how to be polite, which was quite nice. Kyomei realized that she definitely had some manner of intelligence, and the hunger that she felt showed that she had some manner of spiritual energy. The Kuchiki didn't have any children, but the way the otter handled everything reminded him of very infantile processing ability. She was odd, but then again, so had he been when he was younger. So he wasn't too surprised when the words came out of his mouth, almost automatically. "How would you like a family, little one?"

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

The otter tilted her head slightly at the noise, but no reciprocative gesture given in her direction. Well, not entirely unheard of. The noise was...well...noise again. She thought for a moment, thinking back into her vocabulary. There was really only one word she knew well, and she was beginning to think it was time to use it. Remaining on her two legs, she raised both hands and patted her chest, a smile on her face as she spoke out. "N-ame. Ajraka!" she announced proudly before skipping her way over to the male and grinning, leaning forward as she put her arms around him, giving him a hug before grinning up at him . "Name?" she would ask. It was really all she had, and she was hoping that he understood, and hopefully it was the right language.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

As the otter showed a basic use of language, in that she knew her name and the word name, Kyomei was amused to hear her voice a little more clearly than just "Ah!" As she spoke a little, the yellow cloud that he saw reminded him of his own speech. This little girl sounded very similar to him, and he felt very fatherly all of a sudden. Would this be how an actual child of his would be like... just without the fur? "Kyomei." She didn't seem capable of a ton of comprehension, so he kept it simple. As she hugged him, he felt a warm fuzzy feeling in his heart. Yeah... he could get used to this. "Come on, let's go home."

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

The female tilted her head slightly, and in a rare occurence, she bothered to pay attention to his response, her ears flickering as she took a brief moment, mimicking the motion of his lips, then exhaling, and then replying with the name he'd associated with himself. "Kyahmeh....KYouuumeh....Kyameh!" Close enough at least. It would probably take a few corrections for her to get the diction correctly, but she gave him an even tighter hug before the little rascal leapt onto his shoulders, showing a surprising gymnastic ability as she plopped her rear onto his shoulders and curled her tail around his torso, hanging backwards off of him so that she was upside down, giggling to herself as her legs remained secure aroudn his shoulders as she began repeating his name. "Kyaaameh kyameh Kyameh KYameeeeehh!" It was clear that she was about as ready as she was going to be for them to go wherever it was he planned on taking them.