What's the Worst that Could Happen?

[Francis Grin]

Emiko had indeed noticed the Kawada family drunkard when she had first emerged, but had simply focused upon the more interesting conversationalists. That was until the girl started with her needle. In response, the Shihoin would pull a needle out of her own hair, and throw it at Katrina's needle. The two needles would collide, and the needle would be knocked out of the Kawada's hand. Katrina certainly wouldn't be prepared for something like that, especially since she was as drunk as she was. But what was truly spectacular about this was that the Shihoin didn't even so much as pause in her conversation with the Beast Clan and the former Shinigami.

She would chuckle for a moment at Ray's embarrassment, patting him on the shoulder as she did so. The feeling of her fangirl-ism would fade as she did so, and she would return to her comfortable nature. She wasn't like most of the other nobles out there, that much was certain. She seemed far more laid-back and congenial, if anything.

"Eh, the thing is that I'm not a Shinigami," Emiko would say to Ajraka, her tone still the same fast-paced excitement as before. She seemed to be completely avoiding Raygin's couch question in favor of just talking about other things. "Actually don't even have a Zanpakuto, to be honest. I'm part of the Onmitsukido, which technically is a seperate organization from the Gotei 13. You know, despite the idea that the Kawada had when they controlled Squad 2. But anyways, trust me honey, if you're a part of the Gotei, you're a Shinigami. It's just a job title, after all.

"And of course I know Grin," She would say to Raygin as she turned back to him, a wide smile coming to her face. "He was actually a member of the Onmitsukido before he came back to the Gotei. He and I worked in the Maggot's Nest together, kept criminals in line. Heh, actually managed to embarrass the crap out of him once while we were there. Decided to play a little prank on him, and distributed naked pictures of him to everyone woman in the Onmitsukido. He was downright mortified!~"

[Ajraka Kuchiki]

She was a little....surprised, when Katrina all but started molesting her, those hands rubbing along her tail in a manner usually only children did so indulge in. She stared, slightly distracted from the conversation as the drunkard meowed at her. Apparently under the impression that she was a cat. Better than a rat she supposed. But in any case she relaxed, momentarily focusing on Emiko as the woman explained themselves, seeming to have ignored Ray's inane question. 

Ajraka blinked, her head tilting a little at the explanation. Her sharp eyes snaring the movement of that hand. A needle? HEr attention shifted, one of her ears rotating as she then noticed Katrina seemed to be doing something. That tail tightened, but not so much as it would have had she been stabbed, but enough to give the girl a little something to think about.She resisted the urge to dislocate something. Rather, when the girl tried to free herself, she simply sat them back down and rose herself, releasing the woman as she adjusted her Dress.

"Thank you for the explanation. I admit there are still things about the Gotei I've yet to be familiar with. In any case, I feel I must take my leave. I....hope you'll be ok with...." She looked to Katrina before then turning her attention to Ray, that tail winding around him to bring him up to his feed, applying a very light pressure. It was to calm him down of course. A slight pressure around the torso decreased stress. It was why humans enjoyed hugging. In any case, after that brief squeeze, she let go of him and offered her arm to him. "Care to join me? I think we've both had an eventful night. However I'd still like to speak with you. I have some questions about you. That is if you don't mind my company for the evening." She offered with a soft smile, of course having every intention of inspecting whatever wound he had been hiding.

[Deleted]

Raygin blinked when Emiko suddenly drew a needle from her hair. Where had she kept that? Inside her head? Wait, why did she have it out now? She suddenly threw it, something that caused Raygins body to tense up for a second. He then heard the sound of metal on metal as the needle struck something. Raygin turned his head to see a second needle strike the ground, and a raised hand from Katrina in a position one made in order to stab something. Wait, was Katrina about to stab Ajraka? Raygin blinked, irritation and embarrassment flashing in his face as he realized what happened. But it seemed like the situation had been handled rather well, actually.

Raygin turned his head back to Emiko as she began to explain a past experience with Vice Captain of Squad Eleven. He couldn't help but chuckle at the story, imagining how Grin must have reacted to every woman in the Onmitsukido making cat calls or other remarks to him about his butt. Either Grin must have been mortified and pissed...or he lived it up. Raygin had a feeling it was the second option, considering Grins personality. Though Emiko did state a few seconds later that Grin had been mortified. Ahw. Raygin had hoped Grin showed up for work one day butt naked and demanding they take more pictures.

Beside him, though, Ajraka had began to speak as well. She thanked Emiko for her brief explanation on Shinigami as she rose to her feet and fixed her dress. The young man then noticed that Katrina had been set free, but it seemed that she was content to simply lie over there on her side of the couch and moan his name. Ray decided to ignore that. Amber eyes watched Ajraka, disappointment flashing in them when she stated that she was preparing to leave. He wasn't too thrilled to hear that. He had wanted to speak to her, get to know her, but such opportunities had been ruined by Katrinas behavior. The young man blinked when he noticed Ajraka looking at him, then looked down when he felt that tail of hers begin to wrap around him.

He was gently pulled to his feet, embracing him with the tightness one would experience by receiving a hug. Ajrakas plan to calm the man down even more was working, as his gaze softened more as he looked up at her. He almost didn't want her letting go of him but he was surprised to see her offering her arm to him. He listened to her explanation, surprised to find that she was still interested in getting to know him. Were his ears getting a little warm? He gave Ajraka a soft smile, not seeing any problem with spending a bit more time with his new acquaintance. "I wouldn't be against it, if that's alright with you." Ray replied as he approached Ajraka.

But he then stopped and turned to Emiko for a second, bowing his head to her. "It was brief, but thank you for your company and time. It was nice meeting you, Miss. You have my gratitude for stopping whatever it was Katrina was about to do." Raygin said, raising his head and looking at Katrina. That soft gaze was still on her, but it was not one of approval at all. "I really am sorry for how she's behaved, truly I am. I hope she hasn't insulted your house and your family." Raygin added, bowing his head again. He did plan on leaving Katrina here. There were plenty of Kawada who would take care of her, and Raygin had dealt with her a bit too much today. Turning his attention back to Ajraka , though, he smiled and approached. Looping his arm around hers he began to walk with her down the hall, not a hundred percent sure what was going to happen. Once some distance away from the lounge he decided to ask it. "If you don't mind my asking, but where is it you wanted to go?"

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was listening to the captain when she heard her husband say something. She turned quickly and saw that he was getting up from the table. She didn't know why. Maybe he had seen something or heard something that she didn't? It was highly possible. She nodded. "Okay Asmo. Have fun with whatever you're going to do." She watched him walk off to who knows where, trying to get a good look through the crowd.

She quickly turned back towards the captain as she heard her answer her question. She smiled towards Taiho, happy to hear that she was doing good and adjusting well. She couldn't even imagine trying to adjust to something like that. Having an entire family's problems on her shoulders just seemed like too much of a burden to bear for herself. She just couldn't picture trying to do that.

But, it seemed that Taiho was handling it rather well. She had no idea what kind of hobbies she would have, but she was happy that she got to pursue them all the same, nodding when she finished and smiling. She would talk, but it was odd that Asmoskon just left the table, especially in a room full of shinigami. He was usually always on alert, but this gave her pause.

It was then that she heard music flowing from the front of the room. She looked towards the captain quickly. "Excuse me one moment, Taiho-sama. I'm going to look real quick to see who is playing the music." All she did was stand up and look around the room and saw him. Thankfully, the stage where the musicians were sitting was elevated enough that she could see it from her chair.

Her husband was sitting down and playing a cello. A FREAKING CELLO?! What?! He still kept secrets from her it seemed. She would definitely have to fix this sometime soon. She didn't like all these things that kept popping up about her husband. It was nice that she was surprised by things about him, but some of the surprises she would've liked to know about. She quickly sat down and closed her mouth, realizing it had opened slightly.

She then faced the captain and did a somewhat half bow while she was sitting down. "Sorry about that, Taiho-sama. It seems that my husband can play the cello and decided not to tell me. But, besides that, yes I would like a rematch with you. Even if you left me battered, bloodied and bruised, it was still a good experience to fight against you. I would like to try newer skills against you, though I would have to admit, I would only like to fight you again once I have attained Bankai. That kind of power, however, is still a ways off, so you don't have to worry about the rematch anytime soon."

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Asmoskon had finished playing the song and thanked the servants for being so kind. He then moved throughout the crowd easily due to the fact that mot of the nobles even though their heads were held far to high stepped aside from a Quincy who they though could attack at any moment. He wouldn't appear again until he emerged from the crowd as he made his way back to the table. "Even if you left me battered, bloodied and bruised, it was still a good experience to fight against you." Asmoskon was about twenty feet behind Hotaru in plain view of Taiho and it would be easy to see Asmoskon's expression shift from well somewhat unstern to tamed rage.

He walked towards the table his right hand up at head height balancing a tray of drinks that Asmoskon had grabbed from the bar for himself and Hotaru and a few random ones that he figured the Captain might like if she drank. He stood behind Hotaru as she finished speaking and he looked across at Taiho a gaze was locked on her and Asmoskon expressed the message that even a Captain wasn't going to hurt his wife without hoping that she wasn't left injured permanently or scarred that would require vengeance something Asmoskon was quite experienced on.

All of a sudden the tray was set on the table in front oh Hotaru and Asmoskon walked to the right siting back down in his seat and taking a drink. "So you must powerful if my wife openly admits possible defeat." Asmoskon set the empty class on the table now having drank the cup in a few gulps. "It seems Sozen and Iro aren't the only strong Captains in Soul Society. Firefly you know the more you lose the more fun your going to make beating all of them for me so stop losing. Not like you can't use ban. . . where is Takashi?" Asmoskon had accidently taken the glass that held the most alcohol one which he had gotten for Hotaru since she could stand it far better then him. Now it seemed the Quincy was absent minded for the time being and that might not be good.

[Kimiko Shihoin]

Stepping out from the hallway and into the room where the majority of the nobles visiting her house at the moment where located the princess of the Shihoin family made her entrance. Kimiko had ben informed of the noble party the previous night by Okami while the two of them trained. Kimiko hadn't in truth wanted to attend the meaningless agenda to meet with the other nobles yet Okami had spoken with her about how their family name wasn't in the highest of standings and if she truly planned on being his successor she would need to made her face and name known not only as a Shinigami, but to the other nobles as well. So after the long and painful sparring session was over Kimiko cleaned off and went to sleep in her chambers.

Sadly she had forgotten to inform a maid that she would be attending the party and so she hadn't been awoken prior to the start of the party itself. Kimiko had only awoken shortly after the arrival of the nobles. So fighting against the urge to just lay down and continue to rest and recuperate from the sparring session Kimiko got up and with the help of a maid was able to arrive in a beautiful midnight blue kimono. Kimiko had been told that perhaps her hair should be styled into a different manner, but Kimiko felt the ponytail was nice enough for those that she didn't know by name.

So as she stepped forth into the large room filled with nobles Kimiko just glanced around looking for anyone she might be able to pick out. Immediately there were a few that caught her eye. Katrina Kawada was an attendee it seemed. Kimiko hadn't spoken to her since their sparring match and strangely enough hadn't run into her at the barracks of squad two. Kimiko thought about walking over to speak with her, but she seemed rather drunk and Kimiko wasn't entirely sure how Katrina would react to her right now after the spar.

She looked around again and spotted something rather strange. There was what appeared to be a large animal that stood on two legs in attendance. Kimiko was caught off guard by the idea that something like that could be here, but at the same time curious. From what she could tell it was female and seemed intelligent . . or well at least at a noble level of intelligent. She was about to proceed over towards the creature when she spotted her older sister Emiko. Kimiko wasn't on very good terms with her older sister at the moment due to the opinion of their father on Kimiko becoming a Shinigami against his wishes and then training their youngest sister Kisala to do the same.

Kimiko looked around again and strangely enough saw yet another face that she recognized from awhile back. The purple hair was eye catching along with the tan skin so Kimiko realized that Hotaru Kuchiki was in attendance. She was sitting at a table a bit away with some man wearing an eye patch and a rather tall blonde woman. Kimiko walked over to the table and couldn't help herself when gazing over the distance at the group of three. The blonde held an aura of authority and power yet so did the man who seemed to be speaking at the moment. Kimiko was to far off to hear what he was saying until she walked passed Hotaru's left side and sat down between her and the blonde woman. "Well it seems that the Kuchiki were nice enough to send over someone instead of a robot. How are you Hotaru?"

[Taihō Kasumi’Oji]

“But, besides that, yes I would like a rematch with you. Even if you left me battered, bloodied and bruised, it was still a good experience to fight against you.”

Taihō had been focusing on her own thoughts, on the sweet taste of the minor but still meaningful blow that had been dealt to the Kawadas, when Hotaru said this, bringing the Squad Eight Captain back into the conversation. So, even the thought of being impaled again, if not worse, wasn’t enough to deter her? That was good. It was just that tenacity, that undying spirit, that had attracted Taihō to Hotaru in the first place. It was simply adorable, and Taihō was determined to learn everything she could about Hotaru and where her spirit came from. Even if that entailed a vivisection…or two.

But, it wouldn’t do for Taihō to get ahead of herself. For now, she still had a party to survive. And to that end, Hotaru’s husband, Asmoskon, had returned, apparently just in time to hear the “battered, bloodied and bruised” part of Hotaru’s response. The look in his eye just screamed “murder”, and it was fixed on Taihō. Did he really mean to pick a fight with her, a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen? He couldn’t be that stupid, could he?

Well, it seemed he wasn’t that stupid, as he calmly sat down beside his wife, saying almost casually, "So you must powerful if my wife openly admits possible defeat." Possible? Taihō took a moment to review her recollections of the event, and felt there was no “possible” about it; she had quite convincingly crushed Hotaru. Hotaru must not have shared the story with her husband…which lead Taihō to wonder what other cracks there might be in this seemingly idyllic relationship. Was it as strong as it appeared? Or was it doomed to fail? For a moment, Taihō was tempted to probe this mystery, as she would any other, but she stopped herself. Hotaru seemed happy the way things were…was it right for Taihō to pull their marriage apart just to satisfy her curiosity? Ordinarily, Taihō would’ve answered yes without hesitation, but now, in this instance, she decided against it.

”It is to be expected. I am a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen, after all. I have been told I am one of the strongest Captains alive today. Her defeat was assured before she even drew her sword.” Taihō spoke with the same cool, logical tone she always used, showing no hint of discomforting speaking so bluntly about someone who sat just across the table from her. It was, after all, a truthful statement. A brutally honest one, perhaps, but that was beside the point.

Just then, before anyone could say or do anything else, an entirely new player arrived on stage, plopping herself down between Taihō and Hotaru, starting a conversation with the latter while utterly ignoring the former. Taihō looked at her with the same analytical eye a scientist would give a lab rat, trying to match her against the list of people she was told to expect at this little get together. Ah…this must be Kimiko Shihoin, the princess and heir-apparent to the family. Taihō felt her stomach twist into a cold, hateful knot, but this barely made a dent on the façade she showed the world. What did register, was the mild but very real annoyance she felt at being so utterly ignored. Clearly, the young woman had nk idea who she wasn’t talking to.

”Ah, I was wondering when the Shihoin representative would arrive at this gathering. You must be Kimiko Shihoin. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Taihō Kasumi’Oji, Head of the Kasumi’Oji Family, and Captain of Squad 8.”. Taihō knew she was interrupting a conversation. She knew she would likely be seen as rude in doing so. She didn’t care. As much as she disliked the nobility and it’s rules, she still cared enough to observe proper decorum. If she could, the little princess could, as well.