Shihoin and the Feng

[Kimiko Shihoin]

Sitting in the dim lit room that Kimiko used more often than naught while she was home in order to do paper work. The new Head of the Shihoin family had so many things that needed to be handled and right now was just another night where she had many different things to handle that she never had to worry about until she became the head of the family. It had been her dream throughout her entire life and even after watching both of the previous Heads that she knew throughout her life she had never known that being the Head involved so much paper work.

Throughout the last few weeks it seemed like her life as a Shinigami and simply as a person had been claimed by the never ending sea of paper work that came with switching Divisions from leading the police to becoming the leader of the Onmitsukido. There were so many new applications that she needed to review along with Shinigami profiles and information and simply rules that needed to be enforced and new ones that needed to be implemented. So many movements that needed to be handled by not only her, but by the Onmitsukido itself and the Shihoin family. As she finished with another form in front of her on her small table Kimiko remembered that any moment now she had an appointment with a member of the Feng family.

[Yun Fēng]

Howling winds rocked the lantern lighted night, bodyguards and servants pacing to and fro nearly every direction within the manor's twisting corridors, the walls stretching the outer area loomed overhead for those who can catch a glimpse, it would normally give regular shinigami a sense of awe but for a dark dealing clan like the Shihoin, it was almost soothing to all of it's denizens. Yun was no exception, he was currently collecting more papers and filing the completed ones several doors away from the head's workroom.

Maggot's nest execution orders, wedding proposals for Shihoin members, private letters from other noble clans, estate purchases, Onmitsukido scout division's reports on both the human world and Hueco Mundo, new central 46 transcripts discussing whatever was on the agenda at the time, etc. The contents was very wide and varied, but all were pre-read and contained in the same cream coloured letter holders, originally most large documents were stored inside rolled scrolls that were hand written to insure it was properly recorded but the process of writing, storing and purchasing the materials ended up being so costly that letters were now kept in it's original form. This was barely allowed to occur since it hampered security, so tighter regulations on delivering goods to the clan was enacted.

All of the letters were in one large pile, contained by to strong bonds of string. Yun already gave the completed documents to the recorders, who managed the massive archive that was a noble house's library, spanning several floors underground. The rogue made his way passed some servants preparing supper for the head, so he decided to tag along with them down the half open air corridor, which overlooked a small garden, too bad he was still on duty or this scenery would go well with alcohol.

The servants all lined outside a internally lit room, the sounds of scratching paper and muffled huffs echoed from within, she's still busy as ever, Yun thought inwardly as he nodded towards the women beside him. They knelt in front of the folding door, both sitting silently and bowing to wait for a signal to be allowed inside. Manners are manners, no matter where you were born.

[Kimiko Shihoin]

Sitting in her office dealing with all of the paper work that had to be done for both the Onmitsukido and the Shihoin family was causing the new Head of the family an immense amount of built up stress. She was at her limit after hours of constant work with a stack of papers bordering on three feet tall beside her now. As she finished the paper that she had been working on she set the ink pen down across the next sheet of paper that dealt with some type of economic issue dealing with one of the Divisions in Soul Society.

Kimiko looked up and could see the figures kneeling outside the door. Standing up she quickly crossed the room and opened the sliding door to reveal herself to all of the servants outside. Kimiko could immediately recognize that one of them was a male that seemed to be dressed in combat capable attire. Stepping past the both of them that were awaiting her call outside the door Kimiko walked towards the garden area a couple meters away. "Come with me I want to see what you can do." Kimiko needed to relieve some stress and fighting was the best way she felt to do that.

[Yun Fēng]

Waiting for what seemed like a decent half an hour, the master finally decided to put down the pen and trudge along towards the stumps of flesh. A single eye peaked towards the panel door, catching it as the shihoin swung it aside. Once passing by all her subjects and issuing a stress reliever, Yun inwardly scoffed at the mention as he thought, "I'm still slightly better than a training dummy, yet I'm still reduced to not even a challenge eh?". He stood and nodded towards the occasion.

Responding first, Yun shifted inside the room before the maids, they pulled up and tied their sleeves before entering. The staff of the shihoin house were strict in etiquette and authority, one's position was allowed first while years of service separated nearly everything inside that, from who was allowed to sit first during a group meal to even being allowed a higher position or even staying within the same room of a direct, blooded clan member. The fresh meat always work in the shadows, while the older generation are given their own little lanterns to cast shadows.

While he placed and unpacked the stacked letters onto the slightly ink stained worktable, the maids crowded beside him in separating the mistress' work to fit a balanced night time meal fit for woman of her position, though the chefs gladly ignored some of her complaints regarding meat based produce, at least they didn't give her tofu to tease her this time, even if they meant well.

After a very short set up, he ushered out the remaining servants before checking the food menu and confirming everything was once again in order. Now onto a bigger problem, Yun thought as he left last, making sure the door behind him was left ajar so the mistress could easily hold it. The entire process of setting up the food and letters didn't even take 10 seconds at most, so she didn't have to wait for long, yet the servant still promptly answered, "Sorry for the wait" before taking off his black cloth mouth cover.

"Now, wanna see how long I can stand against you with kunai this time? No kido, shunpo or techs for the drawback". He pulled out two small, extremely dulled, black kunai daggers with a simple flick of the wrist, arc throwing one towards the master while standing opposite her within the small garden space, eyes narrowing as he got into position.

The moonlight grass wavering under the wind's dominance, bending yet unbroken, Yun stops twirling his other kunai and readies it with a backhand grip while the other hovering above it, the weapon was closer to his chest with the body right side forward, deciding to use his dominant left hand as his main hand instead of pointlessly playing around. Kimiko can easily kill him, even with the restriction, so it was Yun's duty to relieve as much stress his master gained. Why couldn't she ask for a massage next time?

[Kimiko Shihoin]

Standing in the garden Kimiko stretched her legs bending to her left while placing the majority of her body weight on her muscles. She had been sitting for far to long handling all of that paper work and yet she wasn't even done yet. If only she possessed the ability to clone herself. The thought actually caused Kimiko to pause and think for a quick moment. "Hmmm" she thought looking up at the sky wondering if her Soulbind could actually be warped in such a way that she could pull off the ability to clone herself in a calm manner so that she could handle all of this paper work easily. She shook her head quickly from side to side though knowing that the risk of causing wide spread damage and death was simply to great for her to try something.

As she finished the thought the young yet exhausted looking male that she had told to come show her what he could do arrived. Immediately he apologized something that Kimiko was more than used to with being at the Shihoin Manor for the majority of her life and being the actual princess and now the Head of the family. It was actually rather annoying and Kimiko had throughout the majority of her life told the servants of the Shihoin family to simply address her in a less strict manner, but it never took and now with all of the work that she had to accomplish all of it simply took to much energy for her to try anymore.

He drew two dull kunai from his small arsenal and after asking her the simple question of whether she would want to see how long he could try to hit her with his kunai he began. "Give it everything you've got I need an exercise." He threw one of the kunai in an arc towards her and yet Kimiko didn't look fazed in the least as she simply continued to stare at him her expression unchanging at his actions. Her left hand raised at what seemed one of the last moments as the kunai neared her and smacked the kunai upwards with the back of her hand sending it skyrocketing into the air out of sight.

"Come on now that can't be everything. Try to hit me. Treat me as if I were an enemy."

[Yun Fēng]

From the not so responsive and uninterested stare she gave his servant, the challenge was misinterpreted quickly as she batted the weapon straight into the sky, which was likely being picked up by a nearby guard this very second. This kind of gorilla strength is the reason why I don't want to fight you barehanded, mistress, Yun inwardly sighed as his face visibly darkened and speech hardened. What happened to the shy and sweet young heir to the shihoin clan? Seeing her this worn out and gritty didn't suit her at all, the clan head position is filled with responsibilities but drastically changing yourself isn't one of them.

Yun decided to voice the concern regarding his improper speech just before, which lead to breaking stance to stand straight and begin discussion with a small smooth bow, "My apologise for the misunderstanding Kimiko-sama, but the challenge involved both participants equipped with kunai, since a bout with an unfimiliar weapon would prove more challenging for you. 'An even playing field' as it were." Pulling out another identical kunai from the waist band as his body moved towards her with a calm posture. Seems mistress is stressed out, Yun thought out of concern, the more he decided to visually inspect Kimiko-sama which lead into this simple conclusion, the way she acted could be a tip-off but this is how she addressed servants recently, the older members either chocked this spirited version of mistress to puberty or were overcame with pity since this kind of 180 shift from her old self could impact her health.

Ink stained her hands and cuffs of her shihakusho due to writing all day, eyes were lightly bloodshot due to the low light level and constantly looking sheets of paper with small text, her posture was aloof and body weight was centred improperly was probably either not noticed to herself or Kimiko was already tired from sitting in the same position all the time, she didn't even properly stretch her aches away before nor after he halfheartedly threw his kunai. An arms reach away now, Yun's brow scrunched, his eyes practically screamed what he was thinking. 'Are you alright?' Was simple to ask but instead was decided to take that to the next level.

"Kimiko-sama, I don't think you're in the right frame of mind and being to be sparring at this moment in time. How about I prepare some tea for you while you can first eat some of the food that was brought in", it should be still hot and full of nutrients, he tucked away both kunai into his waist belt before continuing and could give enough time to drive his point home, "eating it on the wooden patio would be a nice change of scenery, then that stuffy room you've been staying nearly all day in. We could start this bout later, after some proper rest".

[Kimiko Shihoin]

As the moments passed and Kimiko could see the visible exhausted attitude of Yun the mistress of the Shihoin family could feel her own patience thinning as she simply wished to fight against something strong enough to push her limitation and keep her mind from the constant responsibility of both her new positions in Soul Society. Right now she just wished that she could go back to being the average Shinigami able to focus on very little else then fighting against adversaries that could actually push her to new heights and not worrying about thousands of other individuals.

Yun spoke and made it clear that the kunai that he had just thrown towards her hadn't actually been an attack towards her, but a toss of a weapon for her to try and utilize against him so that she would have a harder time and be pushed in a different way. Kimiko saw the logic in such a thing, but at the same time she felt the pit in her stomach that she always did when it came to the idea of using a weapon in combat instead of her own body. "You make a good point Yun, but weapons are more Kisala's thing not mine. Weapons haven't ever been something I've enjoyed. It always just feels empty somehow."

After a moment had passed though Yun began to speak once again though and now it seemed that he had the belief that she wasn't in the right mind to even spar against him and that she should simply take the moment to rest and drink some tea while she ate a meal that he could prepare for her. It wasn't a bad idea Kimiko hadn't actually been thinking about it while she had been busy and even after she had been given the meal she hadn't felt hungry as she simply wished to do the one thing that she loved to do more than anything else which was simply to take part in physical combat against something that could push her to her limitations and perhaps even beyond them.

Kimiko listened to what he had to say and although she could see the logic in everything that he was saying that didn't mean that she was all that happy with the ideas nor that she would go along with them. "Fine go grab the food and bring them to the patio." Kimiko made it very clear that she wasn't very happy at the moment and as Yun would turn to go get her food Kimiko would pace back and forth thinking about all of the issues that she had to give her attention in the last few days.