Crazy=Genius [Closed, JT]

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Training for CTP

Shiver my timbers shiver my soul, yo ho, he oh
There are men whose hearts are as black as coal, yo ho, he oh

That haunting melody trickled out from the lips of that malicious male. A man with burns across most of his form. As a malformed grin spread across his face, not by choice but by injury sustained so very very long ago. A burn from magma. A burn he'd received so very long ago. The shinigami hummed to himself as his attention shifted to the city of Karakura, and that crooked smile widened.

"There you are...."

---

Shizuyoko was actually ....a little afraid. Even in her gigai... it was a little nerve wracking. It had done some digging, and especially some....nervousness beforehand. Her chest was thumping away as she tried to calm herself. She was finally going to find her. She could FEEL it. Even if she had felt this same thing yesterday, this time she could tell. This was IT. She was walking briskly, her shoes clacking softly in the night as she strode briskly toward the door where she expected the place to be. She was going to meet her granddaughter. A girl she had honestly never known... But she somehow had some sort of odd hope about it. Something about the situation seemed... big. This was her FAMILY. From back when she'd still been together with Itahke.

She was in the midst of her thoughts, so lost in fact that before she knew it, she looked up and she had already knocked on the door. And suddenly her heart stopped in it's tracks, even if it was a fake one that belonged to her gigai. what on earth was she going to say? Hello this is your grandmother, I'm a ghost though lol? What on earth WAS she going to say?! She'd come up with little white lies to say to the people she had asked about Shizuka. She could lie to strangers, but this was her GRANDDAUGHTER. How could she lie to them? What was she going to tell them even?! She suddenly felt ice creeping up her throat, metaphorically speaking, and she felt an itch in her lower spine where her tails would be, as the gigai itself didn't have them.

Should she run? Should she pretend she had the wrong door? Should she leave before they had a chance to answer? even if an answer HAD spontaneously come to her, she couldn't even feel her feet. She had been diving head first all this time. ALL this way she'd come to try and find the remnants of her family, to try and....what? she just didn't know. And she was realizing that more and more. What could she even do.... What if they were... tainted? She had known of fullbringers. Because of the mark left behind on their souls, they had.... ignored it. She had even kept it from Itahke. But back when she was a human.... she had felt a twinge of her old power. What if that power had been passed on to her young? All of this was rushing through her head when the door suddenly opened.

Welp, so much for running.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

The day was like any other. Everything was relatively normal and unusually calm, but that was the best kind of day for Shizuka. The blonde had been behind on her school work, so she chose today to work on everything as much as she could. Despite working for Xcution, she was still in school and had other job ideas for the future. Xcution paid well, depending on the type of assignments, and the schedule was incredibly flexible, but the woman was going to school for a reason. She was due to graduate pretty soon, and her nerves were at an all-time high. With a huge attempt to ignore any negative feelings she had towards the real working world, Shizuka decided shoving her nose in a book to study was a good idea.

There she was, laying herself on the couch in the family room with her knees bent upwards. She turned them into a makeshift desk of sorts and had her computer pressed up against her thighs. Instead of wearing her usual signature outfit, she was actually still in a pair of black, pink, and white plaid pajama pants with a black tank top on. Her bright pink bra straps were showing, but she was just at home so she didn't care about how this looked. She wasn't trying to impress anybody, right? The only thing on her that was even remotely reminiscent of her usual ensemble was the giant blue and silver star on the chest of the top she was wearing. It was incredibly casual and comfortable, which made sense for someone doing her homework.

Anyway, so she was doing some extra work for her manufacturing class. Shizuka only enjoyed sitting in on this class rather than doing the work because her professor was hilarious. He always made jokes and asides that made the topic fun and interesting, which is important. Showing a passion for something is one of the most attractive things to Shizuka. She loved seeing people who obviously enjoyed what they did or specialized in. It motivated her to do the same. On the other hand, she wasn't a huge fan of the copious amounts of homework she received during her time in undergrad. The Fullbringer rolled her eyes for a second. She'd rather be watching Netflix or something, for sure.

Through her mind babble, Shizuka heard a knock at the front door. Her ears twitched in response to the noise, showing that she received the audio input from her surroundings since this reaction was relatively involuntary. She leaned over to the edge of the couch and stared at the hallway to the main parlor for a moment, wondering if she should actually answer it. She might as well, especially since it's not like anyone can just up and surprise attack her. Shizuka may not have her weapons on her at that exact moment, but she could fight on her own pretty well. That, and she had Bringer Light. It wouldn't be hard to get away.

So, just like any lazy college student, Shizuka placed her computer on the cushion by the ends of her feet and slowly got herself off the couch. She shuffled her feet towards the door, stretching and cracking muscles and joints everywhere. It felt nice to stand up, but she still didn't want to talk to anyone. Did somebody order a package? She didn't think Hebika had, so she was a bit confused. Nevertheless, the distance between Shizuka and the door grew ever smaller until she was finally right in front of it. Without looking through the peep hole or paying attention at all, the blonde quickly swung open the door and leaned on the door frame with her free hand on her hip.

"Hello, hello! I don't remember ordering anything, but just let me see--"

Shizuka became incredibly aware of the person standing before her. It was strange because there was an incredibly eerie familiarity about this person, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Shizuka awkwardly stared at the being before her, squinting her eyes as if to see them more clearly. All she gathered was that it was a blonde woman with hair similar to Shizuka's and eyes that looked somewhat like the green eye Shizuka had, herself. The Fullbringer lifted a perfectly shaped brow, still questioning who on earth this lady was. Wait. Lady? She couldn't have been much older than Shizuka! This was... odd.

"Oh, wow. Um, can I help you?"

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Her heart felt....tight. Shizu was staring in a bit of shock. She had known they looked similar, the picture had told her that much, but it was so different seeing them in person. It was so much.... more. She paused, holding her hand up for just a moment, almost as if she were reaching for something between them, thinking for a moment, wondering. This.... this was her granddaughter? She felt it. The urge to.... relax. to not release her spiritual pressure. She swallowed softly and her back tensed a little, taking a step closer as she looked the woman up and down.

It was really her.....She had to say something.

"H...hello. I'm uh.......Shizuka Sanamizu...." She paused and took.. a moment. It had been... a long....long time since she had uttered that name. Sanamizu. And almost immediately she could feel the weight of it. She could feel just who she was talking to. Who they somehow reminded her of. And the sudden weight in her chest was almost unbearable. She was supposed to be beyond this. She was a part of the omnitsukido. She was a prodigy among her classmates. But she just couldn't deal with this... sudden pressure. Allofa sudden she felt tears welling up in her eyes as she looked longingly at Shizuka. And suddenly it showed in hr eyes that sheh ad clearly missed the girl, even if they had never met before. But there was just.... so much.... so much to explain....

And worse. The worry that they had tainted their children. She paused, thinking it over. How could she ask? So she paused... and.... for just a moment, for just an instant... she opened her palm. And in the barest little instant. She let it out. If Shizuka was just a normal human she would feel nothing. She would just see Shizuyoko holding up her hand and that was it. But.... if Shizuka were spiritually aware... she would feel something... big. A sudden spiritual pressure like the tip of an iceberg. Suddenly the feeling of arrancar reiatsu would seep into her brain, suddenly reaching into her very brain and triggering a feeling of not JUST how old that reiatsu felt. But how familiar it would be. That inner essence of hollow. The power that was her fullbring. If she was right... then that little taste would suddenly stirr them. Suddenly, Shizuka's powers would waken like a serpent inside of her head, inside of her chest, and suddenly it would be searching around for whatever had given off that familiar feeling.

"I.... I've been looking for you."


Here goes nothing.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Shizuka smiled her awkward smile that she kept plastered on her face whenever anything strange happened. She looked clueless and naïve, but the smile did its best to hide any confusion that she felt. The woman before her stepped a bit closer with a hand raised, and the Fullbringer stared directly at the knuckles of it. She briefly glanced off to the side, only to bring her gaze back a second later. It was a method of mental escape, hoping this person wouldn't notice any odd behaviors. Standing in the doorway like she was, Shizuka was about two seconds from turning away and going back inside when the woman spoke.

"H...hello. I'm uh.......Shizuka Sanamizu...."

Huh? "That's so weird! That's my name, too! That's not a very common last name, so it's a little surprising to hear it. It could almost be like we're related!"

Maybe it was something like a prank. For someone to have Shizuka's same exact first and last name was fairly unusual, but something told the Fullbringer that her initial assumptions may be totally wrong. Regardless, she ignored her brain for a moment and tried to be as inviting as possible. She knew that it could be terrifying to establish a new friendship with someone, and this was probably something that Satsujun set up for one of his Seven Guns. But just when she began creating more and more ideas in her head, the woman in front of her began crying. Shizuka didn't know what to do, so she panicked and quickly hugged her guest.

"I'm so sorry! Uh, um... Oh, gosh. I don't know what to do," Shizuka said, taking a step back.

Shizuka was just really uncomfortable, both to herself and to other people. She didn't handle strangers well, and this one gave off a weird vibe. Shizuka had zero energy sensory skills, making it hard for her to tell if this person was anything like another Fullbringer or something, but she assumed they were a normal human. They seemed normal enough, and Shizuka knew most of the other Fullbringers in town. She read their files and all that. But when she finally gathered her thoughts once more, she realized the woman in front of her was opening her hand to display her palm. It was that moment that Shizuka felt everything that this stranger wanted to share.

Shizuka couldn't sense energy or anything like that unless someone really forced it onto her, which is exactly what happened. Her eyes widened in reaction to it, showing off the glistening blue and green irises that came to be her most prominent attribute. Shizuka's jaw dropped and she felt speechless, despite the fact that she wanted to say something so badly. She couldn't make any words form, and she couldn't even bring any thoughts back to the surface of her mind. All that was present was just this woman, this person, this complete stranger, yet one of the most familiar beings the Fullbringer had ever come in contact with.

"I.... I've been looking for you."

Shizuka's ears were pressed back against her head in response to the sensation, and her body felt pretty cold. Perhaps it was because she was suddenly aware of the fact that she wasn't completely dressed and she was standing outside, but it could have also been a chill sent down her spine from the feeling of this woman's Reiatsu. She forgot how this kind of thing felt most of the time because she couldn't sense anyone around her anyway or be able to tell what race they were, but this was different. It was willed onto her. Shizuka forced her expression to turn hard and serious. Her eyes showed that she was obviously not joking.

"Who are you? Have you been sent here to hunt me down? Because if that's the case, I have to warn you. I have my own powers, too. I'm no weak little girl."

The Fullbringer didn't actively have her shoes on her, but she was able to command the souls around her if she wanted. Since this woman could obviously unleash her Spiritual Pressure, Shizuka unleashed her own Reiatsu Strength upon her. All she would sense was an unbearable amount of strength and intimidation, which would be more than sufficient enough to show her who's boss. Shizuka wasn't about to mess around, and she wasn't in the mood to play any games. Some questions needed to be explained, and that needed to happen right this instant. She wasn't about to take 'no' for an answer.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

She felt a sudden... familiarity when Shizuka suddenly lunged forward. Before Shizuyoko knew it, the girl's arms were around her, and immediately she couldn't help it. She hugged them back. And for just a moment, she felt it... she felt that... sense of rightness as she let her cheek rest against theirs, as she hung onto the other woman and felt them up close, felt their spirit up close. Even if she couldn't sense spiritual energy. Her zan spirit could, and reaching thruogh her body, that deep, dark power, that corrupted strength, that hollow spiritual pressure inside of her reached out, and inside of Shizuka... it found it's heir. a Power inherited... A living descendent. And even inside the gigai, Shizuka would feel it. Inside of her soul she would feel some sort of...intrusion. And in her mind's eye she would see it. Blotting out the sky. An enormous monster, a beast of seven heads and seven tails.

But it only felt like a monster for an instant. Before she knew it, that big beast suddenly felt like it BELONGED there. Suddenly, the shadows fell away, that dark aura melted, and Shizuyoko's own burning bright light aura spilled into the woman's body. And in that mental eye, she would see that seven headed dragon suddenly grow beautiful. It felt warm, gorgeous, welcoming, and most importantly of all, when Shizuka felt that strange pressure, she felt like family. And then it was gone, as Shizuka stepped back. Even as she put on that scary expression, warning her that she could take care of herself. Shizuyoko wasn't afraid, and it showed on her face.

"I didn't even know.... I thought your mother.... I thought she was just a normal human... I didn't think she would inherit anything..." She murmured softly, rubbing her eyes as she tried to sort out her thoughts. She hoped that her daughter's life hadn't been too hard... being an orphan with strange powers. She couldn't imagine how hard it must have been. And then to have a child with those powers too... She swallowed and took a moment to try and calm herself. "I meant to say.. when I came in... if you were Shizuka... I know your name.... I know your mother... your aunt... And I knew your grandfather." She noted calmly, watching the woman as she felt it. That building tension.

She paused, gently fishing around... until, for just a moment... she fished out a small candy. A soul candy. A sort of device that, if Shizuka had hunted shinigami for a while, she might recognize. "I'm not here to hurt you Shizuka... I couldn't hurt you any more than I could hurt your mother. I... I really wish I could have been alive to see you being born..." She trailed off, staring down at the pill in her palm, and she felt a heavy weight in her chest. "But... when I found out about you... I thought that you deserved answers... So I'm here to give them to you. She noted softly, and gently she swallowed the pill.

Her gigai shuddered and slumped to the side, leaning against the wall as she toppled. And from the body, Shizuyoko was ejected. She had elected not to wear her shinigami uniform. In fact, she was wearing the outfit from the festival she planned on attending. All at once, Shizuka would see her in a gorgeous black kimono. It was lovely, it looked quite expensive, and of all things, it had a gorgeous gold trim to it, and a matching set of hair pins. It wasn't up fully. In fact the upper alf of it had been shrugged off, hanging about her waist with a matching gold and black band that bound the woman's chest. A similar type of ribbon that was wrapped around the ends of her tails. All six jet-black serpent's tails that sprouted from her lower back, each tail the length of a full grown man. With that golden hair, and those bright yellow-green eyes. She looked like some sort of royalty.

"When I had your mother and your aunt... my name was Shizuyoko Toraumi... Its the name I've been holding onto for a while now. But... the truth of it is.. that my real name is Yamata Orochi. Shizuka.... I'm your grandmother." She explained softly. Thankfully both of her zanpaku'to were out of sight. Completely hidden away with her stealth skill. But even without identification as a shinigami. It was a lot to swallow.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"My mother? My mom is completely normal. She and my dad and I can see spiritual things, but my sister is the only exception. She's kind of a jerk, though. We just keep it all from her."

This woman was freaking Shizuka out. All of this nonsense wasn't connecting any dots for her, which made everything that much more confusing. If the person standing before her had something important she wanted to share, she should have shared it by now. Shizuka was on the defensive, making it incredibly hard for her to relax around anything at the moment. All she could think about was how there was a complete stranger on her front door step and how they weren't about to leave any time soon. But in the middle of her mind babble, Shizuka's attention was brought back to reality as the woman spoke.

She mentioned strange things like knowing Shizuka's grandfather and other relatives. That's strange, especially since Shizuka's grandparents were both dead. They died when she was much younger. Her mom was totally devastated over it and still hasn't completely recovered, so introducing someone like this to her mom was probably a bad idea. It's possible that she knew who her grandfather was, and maybe they were friends or something, but there was no way anything else was going on. Why would she even say anything like that? She sounded like a complete stalker, which caused Shizuka to take a step back inside the house.

Until, of course, her guest pulled out a soul candy. She recognized that thing. She never really understood how they worked, but she definitely knew what it was. Unfortunately, she also knew that it was related to Shinigami somehow. Shizuka became horribly aware of something feeling heavy in the pit of her stomach as she feared that this woman would end up being the very same monster she grew to hate. Her curiosity was making it hard to turn away, especially after everything she'd been told, but her defenses were completely up. She wasn't about to let someone get inside her head again.

As the woman swallowed the pill, causing even more doubt and distress within Shizuka's mind, her physical body dropped as a more spiritual being was left behind. Shizuka learned quickly that the human body must've been a gigai, which is something she became familiar with after meeting a Mod Soul like Hebika. But what she saw after the being was ejected didn't look like a Shinigami at all. Actually, it barely looked human. Well, she looked human, but mixed with a sort of animal. Actually, she looked beautiful. Shizuka was fairly accustomed to people who didn't fully look like people these days, but her appearance was rather striking.

"When I had your mother and your aunt... my name was Shizuyoko Toraumi... Its the name I've been holding onto for a while now. But... the truth of it is.. that my real name is Yamata Orochi. Shizuka.... I'm your grandmother."

Shizuka grabbed the door's knob. "My... what?"

There was no way. It wasn't possible for her grandmother to still be alive, let alone look this young! Shizuka's grandmother died when she was in the third grade. For this woman to waltz up to Shizuka's own home and claim such things was completely disrespectful to her real family. She grew angry, and next thing she knew, she went back inside her house and slammed the door behind her. Shizuyoko would be able to hear something resembling a scream from the outside because that was exactly what Shizuka was doing. She slumped her back against the door and slid down to the floor beneath her, then let out a rather confused (and somewhat startling) scream. She didn't know what was happening.

After a few minutes, she decided it was probably a good idea to open the door. She didn't hear Shizuyoko leave or anything, so she hoped that she would actually see someone there. As she turned the knob again and slowly looked outside more and more with every widening pull, she'd ask a guarded question that had been on her mind since this woman first showed up. She wasn't sure if any time was really going to be the right time, but if she was going to get any answers, she'd have to just go for it. Besides, at this point, there wasn't really much else to lose. What was the point of holding it back?

"So you say you know all these people in my life, and you're somehow my grandmother. If that's true, why do you look so young? What are you?"

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

She understood the woman's reaction. Even before she swallowed the pill she noticed that apprehension. But moreso she was a little surprised at her granddaughter's expression when she was fully out in the open. Perhaps she should dress down in the world of the living... In any case she watched, seeing the door suddenly slam infront of her face, and hearing that scream. And she was... surprised. Her daughter had been normal, aside from the ability to see spirits. She was glad for that at least. But how then did Shizuka's powers developed? Had they skipped a generation? She wasn't quite sure... it was... strange. But she relaxed, giving the girl time as it finally occured to her...

Her daughters had probably been adopted... It made sense now that this was probably some very conflicting information. Her children might not even KNOW they were adopted! She stared off into space, thinking this over, or at the very least until that door opened up again. She paused... she thought it over for a little but, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked off to the side, thinking things over before she cleared her throat and sighed.

"We should probably have this conversation inside. Nobody can see me at the moment." She pointed out, picking up her gigai. Of course if Shizuka refused she would be fine just staying here and speaking, either way. It was time that Shizuka had some answers....

" We died fairly young Shizuka... is the plain and simple of it. Well...." She looked off to the side. Young was a bit subjective. She had been well into her fourth milennia at the time, and Itahke had been quite old as well, but well... "We had only been HUMAN for a short time. So far as human years. Your grandfather and I had your mother and her aunt and well... we died ... or I died... shortly after. And well... we don't really age after we die. I understand this is probably confusing... your mother and aunt may not even remember me..." She noted softly, a forlorn look on her face as she thought about this. " And well, before we were human, we also were not .... beings that aged. So, I look so young because I was only aging for a short while." She noted softly, sheepishly rubbing at her neck for just a moment as those vibrant green and yellow eyes looked nervously at Shizuka.

"What I am... is... a longer story. and one that frankly... you may not believe." She noted lightly, looking down as those tails curled around her waist before settling into her lap. "At present, I am a soul. Shinigami is.... not exactly what I am. Shinigami is an occupation. I'm a soul, and while I work with the Shinigami, technically speaking I'm not entirely a part of them. I'm part of a sect called the Omnitsukido. That is, a squad that monitors and keeps track of shinigami. In the event that they get out of line, We execute them. I suppose you could say my job is killing shinigami..... actually... that has been my job long before I was even dead.... before I was even human." She murmured softly. Now was the hard part.

"You've probably heard stories about it. If you ever had a class in school about mythology. The Eight-headed Dragon Orochi, who devoured the daughters of a famous couple. Of the God of Storms that slew it. And then married one of the daughters... Of course they never usually go into detail about where I came from." She noted softly, closing her eyes. "I wasn't exactly a hollow. Even if I was made in their image, I wasn't quite one. But I suppose so far as anyone was concerned, I was still one. I was a monster for a very long time. But well... I was very weak. I won't bore you with the details. I'm not honestly in any position to brag. But let's just say... that a shinigami named Susanoo found me, doing less than reputable things. Eating people. And he fought me, almost killed me. But I got away. Eventually I overcame my hunger. I broke my masks."

She actually paused, smiling a little at the memory. She had been absolutely freaked out having only one head. It was an ENORMOUS transition. "But well... In order to do it. I'd had to get rid of all that evil in me. So I had cut off one of my tails. Made it into a sword. And that sword found the shinigami. and with all of that evil now in his hands, he came after me. We fought, and well... In order ot save him, I erased his powers. Turned him human... at the cost of my own powers, I became human too. And well.... we'd both been non-living for at least a few thousand years. We didn't exactly fit in. We couldn't make friends all that well.... well... except for eachother..." Suddenly she was smiling. And that light aura, that pure light aura that would be VERY familiar to Shizuka. Hebika had one that was almost entirely pure. But of course, Shizuyoko's was entirely pure.

"He was very protective of me. Given my... looks." She nodded, pointing to her...everything. And then smiling. "Which I'm happy to see I passed on. And... well... before I knew it... that same shinigami that had almost murdered me twice... was the father of my children. But...we died.... or at least I think we both did. I don't know if he survived... Butwell... I died. I went to the land of the dead. And... I couldn't find your grandfather. I wanted to honor his memory... so... I became a shinigami. Or tried... turns out I was much better at killing them. Experience I suppose." She noted sheepishly.

And then she sighed. " And well... During my spare time... I have been trying to find my daughters... and well.. I found them.. and now you." She paused, knowing full well that Shizuka might not be believing any of this. So she reached, and set her hand on the table. No longer hiding it. The blade would simply appear to have popped into existence on the table as she set it down. The blade that STILL held all of that evil. So dark that Sana would feel chills just from being around it.

"I went to the place where we had fought. Naturally. Once I was in the academy. And I made sure that our swords, your grandfather's and mine, couldn't cause any more trouble. I would suggest not touching it. But.... if you must believe. It is still where I keep my darker memories. Just a brush against the handle is all you'll need." She noted softly. She was here obviously. And Sana was strong. She could sense it. Stronger than Shizuyoko. The sword would be unable to possess her. But Shizuka would definitely feel it if she did. It was hardly proof that she was Shizuka's grandmother. But it would be confirmation that she was indeed that monster of legend. Sadly there was no proof for their heritage. It was all up to Shizuka.

Whether or not she could accept that she was the grandchild of a god and a monster.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"We should probably have this conversation inside. Nobody can see me at the moment."

"Oh, right. My bad."

Unable to overcome her polite nature, Shizuka offered her assistance and carried the lifeless gigai before her, slinging the body over her shoulder without much effort. She invited Shizuyoko inside, offering her a seat on the couch in the family room before gently resting the gigai in a chair of its own. She sighed, asking herself why on Earth she thought this would ever be a good idea. She had suspicions about this woman, but she didn't want to question anything too prematurely. She wanted Shizuyoko to explain everything, from start to finish, and needed a few explanations. So, to get them out of this woman, she chose to play nice.

The story began, and the Fullbringer immediately felt anxiety well up in the pit of her stomach. She could almost tell where this was going, and she didn't like it. Convinced by her aunt to hate Shinigami at a young age, Shizuka knew that if this woman turned out to be a monstrous member of that cursed race, she'd have to do everything in her power to hold back crushing her right there and then. She knew she could, too. Shizuka sighed, holding back the anxiety and hate that began to flood her mind. It wasn't worth the fight right now, and the Fullbringer was curious to hear the rest of the story.

She heard a brief beginning, learned that Shizuyoko died at an early age once she became human, and was currently the one thing Shizuka hated the most. Her intuition was obnoxiously right sometimes, which made her pause. She did everything she could to not show any of these emotions on her face, and genuinely tried to be understanding. The story was just a lot to listen to, and the legends that she heard about as a young girl seemed to fit this woman perfectly. Actually, it was a lot to take in. Nothing made sense the way it was supposed to, and yet she understood every bit of it. Shizuka had a lot to think about, especially after learning that Shizuyoko was her grandmother.

That was the worst part of it. This stranger just comes up to her house and claims to be something Shizuka could never believe. She had grandparents and all of them were dead. So how could this woman say she was something that didn't make sense? First she was a legendary creature, then she became human, and then she died, and now she's a Shinigami? Shizuka's head hurt. The story was cool, so she desperately wanted to believe it, but there was no freaking way she was related to a Shinigami. She would not accept that part. Plus, if it was true, should she introduce her mother to Shizuyoko? Was that, like, a thing?

"I went to the place where we had fought. Naturally. Once I was in the academy. And I made sure that our swords, your grandfather's and mine, couldn't cause any more trouble. I would suggest not touching it. But.... if you must believe. It is still where I keep my darker memories. Just a brush against the handle is all you'll need."

"Uh, okay. But if anything happens to me, there are a lot of people who will hunt you down. Just remember that."

With a slight brush of skin against material, Shizuka saw the entire history of what was just explained to her. In real time, it was probably just a couple of seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Shizuka. Her eyes were wide as she watched everything play out before her, and she had no choice but to believe this woman. She saw the children, the two sisters, and she saw how they were left alone once Shizuyoko passed away. It made her sad. That was her mother and her aunt. That was her family. Everything she was told was true, and tears started falling from her heterochromatic eyes.

"So if everything you told me is true, my grandmother is a Shinigami? My very own grandmother is the one thing in the world that I hate the most. How am I supposed to accept that?"

It was a lot. Shizuka stood herself up and started pacing the room. She had to think. She stared at the gigai and wondered why it looked so much like her. She wondered why their family history was so complex. She wondered if there was ever going to be a way for her to meet her grandfather. She questioned if they could even have a proper familial relationship, especially after everything she just learned. She didn't know. Everything about her life came crashing down at once and all she could do was lay down on the ground in a fetal position and hope it would all go away. But it wouldn't.

"What am I going to do?" Shizuka asked, desperately hoping for some kind of answer.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Shizuyoko was a little astonished, and...proud. Her granddaughter was... incredibly polite. For ALL intents and purposes, Shizuka SHOULD have laughed in Shizuyoko's face, slammed the door, and called the authorities, or perhaps even an Xcution hit squad. Or even detained Shizuyoko herself. and yet that is not at all what had happened. Before her very eyes the well mannered young woman incited her into her home, helped her carry the gigai, and listened patiently, anxiously, throughout all of her story.

It was all there before her. It was laid out with really very few details that were important left out. She could see the despair in Shizuka's eyes, and when she finally finished, and watched the young woman trying to process things. And.... she couldn't help it. When Shizuka finally sat down, and murmured loud that she was the one thing she hated the most, and that she didn't know what to do.... she couldn't contain it.When Shizuka called her a shinigami, there was a sudden, ugly, rancid wave of hateful reiatsu. Not directed at Shizuka, but at the idea that she was being called one. She knew she was supposed to be proud of it. But... hearing it from her own flesh and blood disgusted her, and almost immediately, in that span of a second, Shizuka would see a look, one that said
Don't you ever call me that.

And then...Shizuyoko actually started laughing, covering her mouth and giggling softly to herself as suddenly tears were in her eyes, that aura suddenly vanishing, and she knew that it probably stung, not helping in the slightest, and she held up an apologetic hand as she got it out of her system, slowly letting her breathing normalize before she calmed down and explained herself as she relaxed.

"Shizuka... I have been... a monster... for most of my life. For four thousand, four hundred and fifty years, I was a hollow.. an arrancar... I spent my entire life killing shinigami. Being hunted by them. Hunting them. I have killed... so many of them... Among others... In fact I was famous for it. The only reason I met your grandfather was because I was eating the daughters of two shinigami one by one... I almost killed your grandfather because he was one of them." She shook her head slowly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"When it was all over, and we became human. I suppose the only reason I didn't hate him was because of what my sword had done to him. Were it not for that, your mother, your aunt, they would have never been born. I would have never given him a chance..." She paused, staring off to the side for a moment as the gravity of that hit her. "Honestly... I didn't even think of him like that. Not after a while.... And when I died I didn't know what to do. But I wanted to remember him, and I hoped he would be proud of me. I wanted to see if other shinigami were like him."

"And they aren't.... Most of them aren't. I thought perhaps I'd been wrong you know... Four thousand years, long as it were, really I only ever met the shinigami that wanted the credit for killing me. There are some that are decent I confess. But in my line of work... I've seen that none of them were anything like the man your grandfather was. I've watched them stabbing, fighting, stepping over eachother in order to get stronger, more wealthy... more powerful. Even worse than humans." She noted, shaking her head and smiling softly. "Honestly when I found out... I didn't know what to do.. Not ONLY that but it's... well.." She glanced at those long, black tails of hers and smiled ruefully. And suddenly, Shizuka would feel it. Shizuyoko stopped holding it back. And suddenly the deep DEEP stench of Arrancar Reiatsu absolutely drowned the both of them in that apartment. It didn't matter if Shizuka was stronger, the pressure wasn't crushing, or heavy. It was just so VERY tainted.

"I can't even blend in with them without hiding most everything about me. Honestly, I'm lucky the ones that have felt my spiritual pressure haven't executed me for being a Vizard...Shizuka..." She sighed and smiled, looking to the young woman infront of her and shaking her head. " I honestly thought a lot about it. Thinking about leaving. But well... my job is killing the rotten ones. And they pay me to do it. I mean.... I honestly couldn't ask for a better occupation." she noted softly, shaking her head as she rubbed at the side of her neck. " So I decided to keep playing along. Shizuka... you don't have to do anything. This.... this had been... more than I could have ever wanted." Shizuyoko noted softly, smiling as she moved forward and.... if allowed, would bring Shizuka up to their feet, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders and just...looking at them. Beaming proudly.

"Knowing that my children are still alive... that I have a beautiful granddaughter. A powerful and well mannered one at that? You have no idea how happy it makes me... And I would never want to ruin your life like I ruined your mother's... I wish.... I really wish I could have been there to raise her... If this is too much... I'll leave. You'll never see me again. And you can forget I ever existed.... To be honest... the people that died... the ones you called your grandparents... were more grandmother to you than I ever was. I... won't lie. I came here selfishly... I just.... I just wanted to know that even though I'm living ....this..." She looked down at her own hands, referring to her existence as a shinigami. "that something I left behind would be anything but a monster."

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

(OOC: Sorry about it being short, but I was hoping it might be enough to get this moving again!)

"So we feel the same about them, then. Despite your racial status, you're not too fond of those creatures. It's a similar feeling for me. Your daughters, my mother and aunt, have both retained small amounts of spiritual powers. My mother tends to keep it to herself, but my aunt is the one who helped me get recruited by Xcution. You may have heard of them."

Shizuyoko explained as much as she could, allowing Shizuka to calm herself down and learn to accept who it was in front of her. Truth be told, she wasn't completely against the idea. In fact, she didn't mind. Maybe it was the aura that came rushing out towards the Fullbringer just moments before, but she turned her opinions around relatively quickly in response to that. If everything she was saying was true, then maybe this would be beneficial. As the young woman was brought to her feet by the being before her, a small sense of pride washed over her mind as she remembered that it could be possible to reunite her family. That, and...

"You could help me eradicate them! I mean, you did just say you also hated Shinigami. Maybe I read that wrong, but are these your thoughts?"

She could learn. Shizuka could learn to not hate this person. It could be possible for her to feel, at the very least, relatively indifference towards her grandmother. Maybe a good relationship with her wasn't such a bad idea, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little worried. It would be hard for her to be able to balance this kind of thing; meaning, having to deal with someone who was related to her being a Shinigami. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it wasn't the most outstanding result from this meeting. On the other hand, it would be kind of nice to have someone on the inside who also distrusted the race.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Shizuyoko... paused. She took a moment to watch the woman and felt a slight... sensation. It wasn't fear or worry. It was.... something else. It was recognition. Whether it was inherited, or simply spawned from something so very similar. She saw what it was that was in Shizuka's heart. That same thing she had once saw in Itakhe. The thing she had seen in Shizuka's grandfather. She supposed..... while the girl had inherited her looks... she had earned her grandfather's passion.

Gently, Shizuyoko reached out and placed her hand on Shizuka's shoulder, trying her best to prepare herself. To think of a way to convey what it was she felt. This was.... still.... after all these years, so very hard to do. After all, she was never really human. Arrancar. Hollow. Even Akki. They had all started the same. All of them had been spawned like this. But she had not. And because of this, it was so very hard. And she realized... in part.. what had been bothering her for so very long.

She had mistaken her pain. In some small way, she had blamed the shinigami for what had happened to her and her partner.

"You misunderstand. As I did... for so very very long, Shizuka. You have done... so much. Because of this? I never hated the shinigami. They have tried to kill me.... yes. There is nothing one can do to ignore that. And even now, I am in danger from them. But Dear... this is natural. The shinigami are not different from humans. They do not transcend your sense of....justice... of right...of wrong. My dear Shizuka... when you see Shinigami, you are but looking into a mirror." She noted gently, and gently, attempted to pull Shizuka in, not all the way, but enough to look one another in the eyes.

"I confess. In my thousands of years. I have yet to truly hate anything. I have things I dislike. But... I'm afraid that this rage of yours. Is outside of my understanding." She noted, and she paused, taking a moment to consider before she rose to her feet, and gently drew her blade, and sank it into the air. And in that moment, the gate was opened. And before them both, the light from soul society shone.

"Shizuka.... it occurs to me that you probably do not know much about shinigami. Do you? I'm going to offer you a choice. You can come to soul society. With me. To the wilds. Away from the shinigami. We need to talk. Without distractions." she paused, glancing around the woman's home. And knowing that... things would be different. "You asked... if I hated the shinigami. Well I don't. The only race that has ever drawn my ire. The only race that I ever came to truly resent. Is the Human Race. For being so very weak. For failing me. For being so blind and unable to see properly. Because that, it what took me from your mother. And your aunt. and your grandfather." She paused, and looked toward the gate, her mind continuing to buzz with information.

"It won't be forever. But the human world is watched so much more closely than the wilds. Ironically. So it is there that we must come to understand eachother." She noted, and then faced her granddaughter, her heart pounding. As things had, at last, come to a crossroads. " It is an opportunity. For one.. that you might convince me to hate the shinigami. And second..... that you might convince me to let go of my hatred for humans. Because... as it stands. You and I have two very different groups that we want gone."

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Her grandmother's words confused her. Shizuka was a human, a Fullbringer, a gifted being with spiritual powers who obviously deserved so much more praise than the murderers she learned to be Shinigami. And yet, for some reason, this woman was saying that this opinion was wrong. What Shizuka learned to be fact from her Aunt Momoko was seen as fiction in the eyes of someone who was considered to be one of this breed. Of this race. Since she was a child, this was what was ingrained in her head. This was considered to be law, the whole reason she joined Xcution in the first place, but now it was like her world was being torn apart. This didn't mean her views were going to be swayed so easily, but it was hard to take in.

During the brief time that her grandmother finished her thoughts and drew her sword, Shizuka spoke. "Well, it isn't a personal thing. Aunt Momoko, your other daughter, kind of raised me to be that way. She's the reason I joined Xcution and worked with..." The Fullbringer paused at the mention of her deceased partner's name. "With Kento. She told me about the horrors she encountered. Though she was never really specific, I figured that was just because the memories were too harsh to talk about."

As the portal was opened, her kin spoke to her. She wasn't wrong. Shizuka knew so little, and she hated admitting her ignorance. What she had truly was blind racism, and there was nothing she could have done to change that. All of her thoughts were artificial. They were practically programmed into her and all she could do was belief them. What she wanted was to learn, but because of her previous issues, she found it difficult to move on from the racism and come to an understanding. If this woman could teach her how the world and the spiritual realm truly worked, maybe there was still a chance.

"I'll go. Admittedly, I want to learn more. I think that there is something I can gain from this, as well, so I wouldn't be going into it blindly without a purpose. You know how assassins work, right? We always want some kind of bargain. If this bargain involves me gaining some kind of information, there's no reason for me to tell you 'no,' is there?"

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Shizuyoko smiled at that and nodded. Shizuka was at the very least, far above most with her affliction. She was willing to learn and grow. and it made her rather proud of the girl. Reaching out, she gently took Shizuka's hand and smiled, and for just a moment, pulled the girl into another intimate hug, taking just a moment to once more relish in the fact that her granddaughter was alive and well. Then, taking a step back, but keeping her hand in Shizuka's she put on a bright smile, those bright green-yellow eyes gleamed ferrociously despite the softness of her smile.

"Let's go then. The Spirit world is...relatively similar to the real world. We'll be going to what you would consider a third-world country. The edge of the living area for spirits. To the border where mostly the beasts live. Far from where Soul Society even bothers to keep track or regular patrols of. That's where were going." She explained, giving Shizuka a moment to prepare herself before they... the both of them, stepped on through.

Of course, after the long and....strange, passage through the senkaimon, the both of them would step out and into the wilderness, just on the edge of the rukongai. To the east they could see in the distance the rather poor and somewhat desolate edge of the Rukongai in area 80. Strong, powerful Rukongai citizens who braved not only the toughness of the outter districts, but the dangers of the wilderness.

And to the west was the wilderness. Vast mountains and lakes and other biomes were visible, an entire world very much apart from the sereitei. Shifting her attention to Shizuka, she would smile, and see just how the woman reacted as she casually rolled her shoulders. She was still in her fancy outfit after all, this was her leisure time and she took a moment to walk off a little, crouching next to a tree and moving things around until she retrieved a bundle of clothing and idly began slipping out of her clothes, making no attempt to hide as she allowed Shizuka to get her bearings whilst she changed.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

The hug was surprising, yet very welcome. This woman, so familiar and yet so foreign, smelled like family as much as she could. Shizuka recognized some of the scents from different things her mother wore, and it was somewhat startling how similar everything was. Still, it brought about a calming sensation throughout the Fullbringer's nerves. A small bit of air escaped through her nose audibly, but it was more out of relief than anything else. She didn't really mind Shizuyoko's presence as much as she thought she would, which brought about a lot of surprise. Honestly, though, she was oddly okay with it.

Shizuka nodded and held on to Shizuyoko's hand as tightly as she could, which may or may not have been a bit strong given her above average strengths. Shizuyoko likely wouldn't feel pain, but you never know. Regardless, the Fullbringer was going to trust this woman with every ounce of her being because that was all she could do. Truth be told, this was her first time ever in Soul Society. Shizuka was pretty nervous, especially since she was human. She didn't exactly know much about the place aside from what she'd read in reports, and even then, it wasn't as much information as she felt she needed. Personal experience was always going to be infinitely more valuable.

Once they finished walking through the portal, Shizuka was stunned at how similar this place was to her own Human World. It was so strange. There were differences, obviously, but just not enough to make it seem like they were in a completely other universe. Like it was somehow supposed to be Heaven, even though that was essentially what it was made to be. Souls traveled here when their human (and sometimes not so human) forms perished, and either lived the rest of their endless lives or became Shinigami or some kind of combination of the two. Shizuka wasn't very sure about the specifics on that part.

Her wandering mind shielded her vision from her changing grandmother, though it wouldn't have really bothered her. This woman looked to be in her early twenties despite her actual age, so it's not like Shizuka was going to be horrendously disturbed by sagging packs of flesh or anything of the sort. Nevertheless, her eyes glanced over the world around her as she took in every site. She had questions, but most of them could wait. For now, her only major question was about the overall scheme of things. She wanted to know the mechanics of this place and what made it so different.

"How did this place come to be?"

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Once she was all changed, those long, black tails swaying behind her as she found herself much more comfortable i the special forces outfit, the sleeveless backless outfit once designed to work with special mixtures of Hado and Hakuda. With her attention shifting towards Shizuka, she was pleased to see just how enthralled by the surroundings she was. "It's probably been around as long as the world of the living has. This is the wilderness. The Gotei and such are all that way." She noted, gesturing off in the distance toward the court guards area, as well as the rukongai.

"So, first things first. You probably notice that the spiritual density of the air is a lot stronger here. You might even find it kind awkward to feel and move around in. To that end, why don't you and I have a little go? Nothing fancy. No weapons. Just hand to hand stuff. Help you get a feel for the place?" She suggested, that smile so very soft and warm, even stronger than Hebika's. It was probably a little amazing to believe that this woman was in charge of brutally murdering people when they got out of hand. But then again, didn't such jobs run in the family? shizuka hardly looked the part of an assassin either.

Either way, it was actually a very decent way for the both of them to become more familiar with one another. Not only personally, but physically. She was curious to see just where Shizuka's power was focused. How she had trained herself, and what the difference between them might be. It was an exciting prospect and frankly she was overexcited. She had waited so long for something like this. Finally, she'd get to bond with her granddaughter.