Awkward Moments (Training Thread, R, CLOSED)

[Matthew Hazeman]

At one time in the Academy, people had thought Matthew Hazeman would go on to do great things. Sure, he was a bit of shrinking violet when it came to interacting with others, but at the very least he was one of the greatest prodigies when it came to the field of manipulating and controlling Reiatsu. Indeed, few outside the current head of the Kuchiki family had a track record that surpassed his own when it came to the field. However, once Matt graduated from the Academy, all the high hopes he inspired died the moment he joined Squad 4. Despite all the talent he had, it seemed the one-eyed Irishman was rather adverse to combat in and of itself, leading to his decision to join the healing division. And for the last few years, Matt had been quite content with the simple grunt work that had filled up his time.

Recently though, certain things about his job were feeling... Less satisfying, less fulfilling. He was still happy to help people without having to hurt anyone, make no mistake. But the lack of a Captain within Squad Four itself left a distinct lack of direction in the division. Most of what he was doing now was simple busywork, with no sense of importance at all. It was genuinely disheartening. He had been doing a great deal of soul searching, trying to think of something he could possibly do to resolve this situation. But even with months of thinking, Matt had only managed to come upon one solution.

It was this one solution that led him to the Kido Corps. He looked nervous and uneasy as he walked along the halls of the division, though his continuous movement didn't suggest he was lost. Indeed, the only time he stopped was when he arrived at the door of a particular unseated officer, one Matt had learned about from his old instructors at the Academy. He stood outside the door for a few minutes, simply shifting awkwardly from foot to foot the entire time as he gathered his nerve.

[Ranth]

Ranth sighed heavily as he surveyed the enormous mounds of paper that now cluttered the desk he was seated at. Some were single sheets whilst others were meticulously bound booklets that weighed as much as his own head. Beside him was a second desk with a much smaller stack of papers. The ones he'd managed so sort though at the cost of the majority of the morning. Although one could be excused for thinking otherwise, he wasn't here as some kind of perverse punishment but nor was he here by choice... or at least, not entirely. It was no secret that the Kido Corps had seen better days. To put it bluntly, they were a mere shadow of what they'd been when the former Captain had transferred to another squad due to familial politicking.

In fact, as things currently stood, the Corps had yet to elect a new Captain to replace them, recruitment was down, funding had subsequently been cut and a state of near anarchy had reigned as those who hadn't done the sensible thing and transferred to another squad struggled to keep things running. At first, Ranth hadn't known anything about these problems that his new home had faced, but in the weeks that had passed since his arrival he'd been lumped with as much responsibility as he showed himself capable of carrying and he'd begun to thrive.

Of course, it helped that he had an extensive history in accounting from his youth and thus he was tasked with combing through the years incoming and outgoing expenditures in order to create a budget for the new year. It was a largely thankless task compared to more heroic pursuits such as slaying Hollows or infiltrating the Vandenreich, but it was something Ranth found he could do and do well. Of course, there was also the small matter of promotion that Artorius- the current 5th seated officer had let slip was on the horizon if Ranth kept up his current pace and kept impressing the right people within the Kido Corps.

Putting down his pen and trying in vain to stretch out his wrist as he moved a depressingly small stack of paperwork from the 'To Do' pile to the 'Finished' pile on the desk next to him, he looked up and caught a flash of movement at the door. Puzzled, Ranth continued to watch the doorway as he massaged his aching wrist and sure enough, a few seconds later he saw movement again and realised that someone was pacing outside the door to the office he was currently occupying. Strange..., he thought. Whoever it was never actually came into full view of the doorway, but rather he could see their shadow and the barest edge of their clothing as they turned just before the door. After almost a full minute of watching this bizarre spectacle, Ranth decided it was probably best that he do something.

"Hello?" He called out, curiosity colouring his voice. "Is there something I can help you with? Come on in". As he waited, he silently crossed his fingers under the table that it wasn't a runner bearing even more paperwork to add to his steadily growing mountain of work. When had he last seen the sun anyway? Yesterday? The day before? What day was it anyway? Dammit he needed a break.

[Matthew Hazeman]

Matt physically jumped back as he heard someone speak to him from inside the room. There would be a flurry of movement as the unseated Shinigami backed away, covering his face with both arms as he did so. He would cower at the opposite side of the hall for a few moments, taking a few deep breaths in and out. He knew that he had come here with the intention of talking to Ranth, but being faced with the actual reality of it was still nerve-wracking. Still, if he wanted to follow through on his goal here, then he would actually have to speak with the other Shinigami.

He slowly walked up to the door, hesitating a moment before cracking it open some. The sight confronting Ranth from the other side of the door would be an odd one. The Shinigami out there was wearing a red and white oni mask, one clearly crafted in an attempt to invoke some sort of fear. However, the effect was largely ruined by the fact that Matt was hiding as much of his body behind the door as he could. Only his masked face was actually in a position where it could be seen in the room. Even then, he wasn't actually looking at Ranth, but rather the man's paperwork-strewn desk.

"Errrrr...." Matt said, his tone nervous as he tried his best to gather his thoughts quickly. "H-h-hello there. Uhhhh.... I-i-i'm Matthew Hazeman. From Squad Four? Are you, uhhhhh... Errrr.... Ranth Ominyte?" Matt would pause for a moment there before he suddenly realized he had made a critical mistake. "I said your last name wrong! I am so so sorry about that, Mr. Amanite. I really should try to keep better track of things like that, especially since I'm..." The rest of Matt's statement was hard to make out at that point, as the man petered off into indistinct mumbling.

[Ranth]

Ranth tapped the tip of his pen against the wooden surface of his desk as the shadow in the corridor froze upon hearing his words. It was a curious thing indeed and perhaps if Ranth had been a more experienced, veteran Shinigami then he'd have seen due cause for alarm in this mysterious visitor who seemed intent on remaining unseen yet was also stalking around outside his office. But Ranth wasn't, so he didn't. Instead, he was simply curious and more than a little puzzled.

When the shadow vanished and the sound of departing footsteps met his ears, Ranth frowned to himself and he laid his pen down on the table and placed his hands flat on the desk as he prepared to push himself to his feet when he heard the footsteps returning and he looked up to see an unnaturally white face peeking around the corner of the door at him. No, Ranth realised upon closer inspection. It was not a face... but a mask- one with a rather fierce design that might have been alarming if not for the shaking voice that came from beneath it.

Leaning back in his chair again, Ranth truly didn't know what to make of his bizarre visitor. But one thing he supposed he was certain on was that the proper thing to do was to invite the boy into the room. It was an odd sensation to think of a fellow Shinigami as a 'boy', since in most of Ranth's interactions with other squad members they had been either his immediate superiors or were flat out older than him and he sighed inwardly as he gestured patiently towards the squad 4 member.

"Come inside Matthew", Ranth said kindly as the boy descended into unintelligible mumbling and gestured towards a chair on the other side of his desk. Behind the smile, Ranth's mind was struggling to connect the dots in order to figure out why this squad 4 member had been sent- or perhaps sought him out on his own- to find him on top of having next to no idea how Ranth's name could have travelled to the other squads.

After all, he hadn't accomplished any great feats- at least not that he was aware of at any rate. To date, perhaps his greatest claim to fame was his association with the Vice Captains of the Omnitskudo and 8th Squad. Otherwise, he'd successfully completed one mission of that had been of such minor importance in the gran scheme of things that he could scarcely recall the details even though it hadn't even been that long ago.

Ultimately, he was never going to get to the bottom of the questions he had based solely off of the information he ahd at hand, so he'd just have to ask his visitor why he was here and what he wanted. "Yes, my name is Ranth Amanite. I'm afraid I'm not sure what business you might have with me, but I'll be happy to assist however I can", he said once Mathew had entered the room, curiosity tinging his voice.

[Himitsu Kasumi'Oji]

80 CTP to both participants. Next time, please specify what you’re training for