Beasts For a Price (JT, Closed)

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Karakura Town, Western Tokyo, Japan. It is not often that one would accredit this particular settlement as something noteworthy to any outsiders. For all sense and purposes, it was a normal town filled with normal people bound to follow a normal path towards a normal future, such is the way for the populations of Japanese suburbs. Tourists would find the place unremarkable due to its lack of popular touristic attractions, and most of its citizens tend to leave once they reach adulthood, instead moving towards other prefectures of Japan. It was not very difficult to understand why that was; in comparison, Karakura Town was just that normal. Despite this, there was one thing that people could not deny about it, and that was the fact that much like any other Japanese town, it tends to look a lot prettier during the earliest years of winter, especially during the night. The skies tend to become interspersed with snowy clouds, and the grounds and streets below slowly start to become white and shiny. The street lights become shinier and more eye-catching, and with their beacons beaming against the falling snowflakes to give them a noticeable hue, and overall, one could feel Christmas slowly coming around the corner.

It had now been a small while since Kimiko had gone to this particular area of Japan. More specifically, it has been about a few months since she has, as the last time she went there was with Celes to battle against Dummy Hollows for training. For the most part since her entry in the Eleventh Division, she had been tasked to complete several chores that would usually be given to rookies. Such things ranged from typical paperwork to small-scaled Rukongai patrols with multiple group training sessions in-between. All in all, life has been fairly quiet for a time now, as painful as the paperwork may usually be. She was at the very least able to make a few acquaintances since she officially became a Shinigami, notably a number who she found to be rather nice to accompany during patrols. The Eleventh may essentially be filled with a lot of battle junkies, but when you are also as much of a battle junkie yourself... Well, it is difficult to not get along with them. For many Shinigami, the people of the Eleventh were scary and brutish. For Kimiko, they were already starting to become her trusted comrades.

With that in mind, it was perhaps a bit of a pity that she didn't get to accompany one or two of them to what one of her superior officers decided to give her today. She had been assigned a mission. Yep. A mission, one which she would conduct on her own. Well, it wasn't really important or anything as it was really just a standard mission any member could receive in the Eleventh, but to the inexperienced Kimiko, it had been quite the surprise. Her officer described the task as a basic Hollow hunt to conduct in Karakura Town that. Apparently, there is a Hollow code-named "Faraday" that is currently terrorizing some of the spirits wandering about alongside a few Humans which had the misfortune of standing near them. Although its strength was noted as being apparent, the officer considered Kimiko to be strong enough to handle it safely enough due to her outstanding physical performance in training and during the Academy, and so found no worries in sending her alone. Kimiko herself believed there were no issues with that line of thought, and so proceeded to the Senkaimon without any worries.

The transportation procedure went on rather smoothly. Those which manipulated the Senkaimon did so with expert hands, and soon enough, the doors of the magical traveling device which stood before Kimiko opened onto Karakura Town, allowing the Shinigami to move forward into the Living World. Once the doors of the Senkaimon closed, she was left alone standing above the streets of this specific suburbia with the aid of Air Ground, allowing her to get a good look at the city. By the time she got there, it was getting dark, allowing the Shinigami to get a good look of the light hue which shone from the streets against the falling snowflakes above. This is nice... She had to admit as she stood there for a moment reminiscing about the winter holidays. It would have been better if it wasn't Karakura Town, as she had a bad memory associated to the place, but her the times she has spent celebrating Christmas with her mother allowed her to somewhat forget that for a moment. It was some time ago now, but they were good times, times which she sort of missed. At least festivities were still somewhat celebrated in Soul Society in some cases here and there.

But enough of that. She was not sent to this place to enjoy the view, but rather to take down this Faraday. Whatever it is, if it was reported to be around here, then it must definitely be wandering around somewhere. There was just tiny little itsy bitsy problem.  "... Where... Where is he?" She told herself at that moment as her expression started to turn from nostalgic calm to comical annoyance as she started turning her head from one urban horizon to the other. Indeed, this particular Shinigami had no idea of how to find the very thing she needed to hunt. The reason why that is was, well, that she never really hunted any Hollows before. Because of this, she was not really attuned to the distant cries of Stray Hollows. Her Energy Sensory was not particularly amazing either, preventing her from detecting the malevolent entity from too far away. Eventually, she started walking over the streets with an annoyed gaze as she looked from left to right multiple times over, but eventually, she let out a sigh and decided to reach for the rooftops.

Jin told me that it's not big. I'll probably have a better time scouting from here, she concluded as she landed on the rooftop of an apartment block before starting to move from rooftop to rooftop, doing so with speed and relative precision. Due to Air Ground, she was not too afraid of potentially tripping and falling face first onto the street below. If anything, she was more annoyed by the fact that she wasn't able to find the Hollow yet. Wasn't she supposed to be transported nearest to its last sighting? Where the hell is it? Oh well, this might at least be somewhat of a lesson in patience for her. If she can't find it, then she'll just have to search for it, and once she does, she most likely will have a good fight with the beast before going back to Seireitei.

[Raphael Laurent]

There were several reasons that Raphael was still having trouble adapting to Karakura; from the blatant favoritism of Japanese natives (as Japan usually experienced) to the lack of nightly activities. That was why he had a bad habit of heading into Tokyo whenever he needed stimulation at night. But ever since he’d come to realize his abilities, that had changed drastically. Nowadays, he would spend several nights roaming the streets, whenever he felt that it wouldn’t concern people, and make sure that hollows weren’t attacking people. Some nights were more excited than others, and some were less so. The latter of the two were just wonderful ways to spend his evening, while the former was basically work.

This night, unfortunately, was an odd combination of the two. He’d been hearing rumors around his neighborhood of people being attacked at night, and had seen two reports of “mysterious deaths”. Raph didn’t like the fact that shit like this was going on while he was around and the two deaths were big failures on his part. He wasn’t going to submit this report to Kazura, that was for sure. He’d been doing so well and now his only way to make sure that it continued was to catch this thing and destroy it.

And so, hands in his pockets, Raphael had been walking around at night, smiling at the slightly warmer evening. One thing that he’d done differently from Luca is that Raphael didn’t like to show and/or abuse his power, for any reasons including not trying to draw hollows in further. He was still hurt by the divide that the two of them had undergone and wasn’t thrilled about his cousin Randall having moved in. He was already fairly sore from his cousin’s “training”. He even had a single cut on the side of his face. Randall didn’t like to hold back very much and Raphael was not used to bladed weapons. According to Randall, what Raphael was going through was exactly what Jennifer would’ve put Brian through, but Raphael had his doubts.

He hadn’t been paying much attention which was why he was surprised when he felt a shinigami not too far away. Not incredibly powerful, but not too weak; enough to at least go on patrols on their own. Where they were, there was normally a hollow not far behind. Hollows were always intelligent enough to chase shinigami whenever they came to Earth. It was the oddest game of cat and mouse, one where the mouse chased the cat as much as vice versa, and then there were humans, the weird creature that was stuck in the center. Fullbringers were as much harbingers and guardians of humanity as the shinigami were, if not more so, since they lived amongst those needing protection.

Who, really, need protection, then? Everyone. Raphael had learned that after years of seeing shinigami get eaten by hollows. It didn’t matter who it was everyone needed protection of one kind or another. Everyone needed help. Speaking of help… Raphael braced himself, looking at a nearby roof, and suddenly with a small green pillar, he was gone from the street and onto a nearby roof. “Sometimes I hate deciding to use myself for bait before I know what I’m getting myself into…” He stretched his neck a few times. “I wonder if that hollow noticed…or that shinigami for that matter. Not that it really matters, I just hope that collateral damage can be avoided… As much as possible, then.” He stretched his sore and aching muscles out. “Just gotta keep watch, then…” He noticed the shinigami jumping from one roof to another. “Hrm… Ho, shinigami! How goes the hunting?”

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko moved from rooftop to rooftop with a quick step as she tried her best to scout for Faraday, though so far, she could tell that scouting closer from the ground wasn't really getting her much more information than scouting from above. Despite overlooking one area to the next as much as she possibly could for at least a good five minutes, there did not even seem to be as much as a claw mark here or there. Man, where was this thing hiding? Surely, it couldn't be this stealthy, right? Yes, Jin had indeed described it as being "not big", but it was most likely not a tiny Hollow of some sort, and she very much doubted that a tiny Hollow would have been something a member of the Eleventh Division would have been best to take care of. After all, they wouldn't send someone from a squad which is renowned for shunning the magical arts to hunt something that would most likely require the magical arts to find it in the first place.

I should've asked Shawn to come with me, the swordswoman's thoughts ranted at that moment as she reached for another snowy rooftop. For as much as she hated Shawn's fighting style, she was well-aware of his knowledge of Kidō and how it would have most likely allowed them to rapidly locate the creature, since she could remember that one time she read about some of pulsing technique in her Academy books. It was a long time ago, admittedly, and she had more or less decided to ignore it because she simply cannot even so much as conjure a simple fireball, but she was sure that his use of the technique would have been enough to give them good insight as to where to go. As it stands, the only thing that she could really do is continue to run around in circles until it eventually picks up on her spiritual energy and decides to show up, which she can't really is a particularly-fun thing to do. Oh well. At this point, it has been a while since she has learned being a Shinigami is not all fun and games.

Well, at least it was fun to jump from rooftop to rooftop. In a way, it sort of made her somewhat feel like a superhero or manga protagonist. To think that only about three years ago now, she was still a normal Human wandering around in the streets with no awareness of the existence of Soul Society and Hollows, and now here she is as some sort of ghost samurai thing scouting for some demon monster thing wearing a mask. The realization made her slightly smile in disbelief for a moment, almost as if she could not believe how absolutely ridiculous that would have sounded to her back then. Wasn't there a best-selling manga with a similar setting back then? About twenty years ago? What was it called again...? Bah, that doesn't really matter. If anything, the only thing that matters is that any kid who would somehow happen to learn of the existence of Shinigami would most likely be ecstatic at the thought of such things somehow existing.

Soon enough, however, as she thought of such things, her smile waned once she briefly recalled the face of her killer. As much as she believed she could get used to her new life, she couldn't say that she enjoyed the fact that her previous life had been forcefully ripped away from her just for what she currently assumes to be a horrifyingly-petty reason. Being reminded of his face, of his clothes, of his weapon, of his very name made her smile slowly vanish until all that remained was a vindictive gaze. Right... That guy had been arrested. She knew where he had been jailed: she saw the correctional facility he would be sent to on the news while she was still a Plus of Akihabara. She could pay him a visit any time she wants. She could just go in his cell and gave him a scare real quick, just haunt him for the rest of his pathetic days. Hell... she could even kill him. You know, just return the favor, make him suffer for his sins, send him to Hell.

As quickly as that thought process appeared, it then disappeared with a quick shake of the head. No. No, that's enough of that. She couldn't allow herself to swoop to his level. There was nothing stopping her from just heading on over to Tokyo's Detention House and just outright murdering him there, but doing so would just make her look as bad as him. Besides, Shinigami are not supposed to kill Humans. Whenever they do need to kill a Human, it usually involves either a bunch of protocols to follow or a request sent by one of the higher-ups of Gotei 13. She didn't really care about such laws; however, this time around, it might be best for her to just follow them. As much as she hates him, the best way for her to conduct her revenge would be to just await his eventual execution, probable transformation into a Hollow, and then send him to Hell at that point in time. That would be for the best, yes, for both her mind and body.

In any case, the Shinigami continued to wander around over the streets and houses of Karakura Town before she suddenly noticed a bright flash of green light spark from the streets below. This made me her frown in surprise before she was prompted to stop and land on a street light. What the hell was that? A laser pointer? Impossible, that light had been too bright and it would have required whoever was pointing that thing to shine it directly into her eyes. A light projector, perhaps? Who would use a light projector in the middle of a snowy evening like this? The Hollow she's searching for? There was nothing in the information that she received that suggested it was capable of emanating light. Then what was that? She asked herself then as she pondered on the matter. Whatever that light it was, it had been powerful enough to gather her attention to some extent, and since this was technically a sort of spiritual war zone (after all, Karakura Town is one of the most dangerous places for any spirit to wander in), she needed to be aware of whatever she was supposed to face.

The nearby voice calling to her was what brought her away from her thoughts and back into reality. Surprised, she'd look to the direction of the rooftop that was nearest to the street light she was standing on only to then witness a person standing right on top of it. It was... a Human, one with a large stature wearing a hooded jacket and a bit of a slouchy stature. For a moment, she simply stood there on the street light completely unsure of what to do, as she was now starting to sort of guess that he was the one responsible for that green light. For all intents and purposes, she had been more or less completely caught off-guard. Was he one of those... Fullbringers? Humans with spiritual abilities? Perhaps. She had read about them a little bit, but again, it had been so long ago back at the Academy that she was missing bits and pieces here and there. Ugh, there's still so many things that she doesn't understand about this world. How frustrating.

"I'm... uh... It's doing okay?" She at first responded to his question a bit awkwardly as she tried her best to recover from the shock of being called out like this by a Human after being used to the fact that this would not happen anymore ever since she became a Soul. However, after a few seconds, she let out a comically-heavy sigh. "Well... Not really. I don't know where that Hollow is... I've been searching for a while now. You'd think those things would stand out in a place like this..." She remained there on the street light with an eye looking over the Fullbringer and the other overlooking the streets below. There wasn't much information to gather from said streets. Well, no, there was a drunkard trying to pet a cat that was trying its damnedest to get away from him, but that was about it. "Are you looking for it too or...? Sorry, I'm just not really used to Humans seeing me. This is my first mission."

[Raphael Laurent]

He chuckled listening to her. She seemed, at first, quite perplexed with his use of bringer’s light, staring at the green light that he’d left behind. Though, it was even to the point where she seemed to be looking around to figure out what exactly was going on with the light. Did she think that the hollow had made it? Did she think that it was some kind of other enemy? Did it matter what she thought? In the end, he was only around to kill the hollow or, at the very least, making sure that she killed it. From what he’d been told, it wasn’t a necessarily incredibly powerful hollow, but he knew that he had to keep on his toes or else they could be in some serious trouble.

Listening to her, he felt his concern increase a fair bit; she was uncertain of herself, or wanted to prove herself to her superiors. Either one was fine, but could lead to more dangerous situations, if she wasn’t careful. She said she’d been searching for a while, and then worse, that this was her first mission. He winced a bit and frowned. “This…is your first mission? And they sent you on one like this, huh? Fuck, who’d you piss off?” He chuckled just a little, knowing that the drunk down below would, at best, start yelling at Raph to leave. That was the most that man ever really did. “Wanna do good, though and impress your higher ups, huh? I won’t lie to you, this sunuvabitch has eluded us for quite a while, even us humans. ”

He stretched a few times, and motioned for her to come over, or at least get a bit faster. “You can get closer, not like I’m gonna hurt ya. In all honesty, it’d probably be smarter for you and I to hunt together. You watch my back and I watch yours, fight together and neither of us’ll die to this hollow. Don’t worry, I’m fairly strong and can hold my own, for the most part. I’ve got a bit more training to do, but who doesn’t? Might also be good to have your blade to cover my lack of ability with close quarters combat, while I cover you with my mastery of soul dominance.” Raphael looked around a few times. He didn’t like the fact that this thing was still free, but he couldn’t exactly do much about that. With any luck, she would agree to team up and they would be able to destroy this hollow before it could kill again.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko listened quietly to the Fullbringer as he spoke, not bothering to drop her alerted state as he exclaimed his surprise about this being her first mission and started making assumptions about why she was even here to begin with. In all seriousness, she was a bit annoyed by his guesswork. Why was he already assuming things about her? It hasn't even been a minute since they've met one another. Sure, she wanted do good like any other Shinigami officer going on a mission on their own, but she wasn't trying to impress Jin, Vice-Captain Kawada or really anyone by completing this mission. All she wanted was to do something that wasn't paperwork for once and possibly get away from the brunt of it with a successful hunt. Much like any typical officer of the Eleventh Division, she also wanted to see what this Faraday was made of and what kind of battle she would have with it once she is able to eventually find it, wherever it may be.

"I didn't... piss off anyone. I was just sent here because someone wanted me to... That's about it," she limited her criticism of his attitude to that, not bothering to go into further detail for now. As a bit bothersome as this person was already sort of starting to be, he was at least not as annoying as the Daigo twins she dealt with back during her Academical excursion to this place. At least she most likely won't have to deal with him for very long tonight, though she had to admit that his presence here was unprecedented. Why would a Fullbringer be wandering around the streets of Karakura Town? Better yet, why would a foreign Fullbringer be doing that? He was clearly not from here, judging by his looks, so why did he come all the way here to hunt this particular Hollow? Surely, there are Hollows outside of Japan, right? No... perhaps he just lived here to take care of the Hollows remaining near Karakura Town. Bah. At this point, there were way too many useless questions piling up. Better keep them for later than bother wondering about them now. 

At the very least, one of the primordial questions that started this little chain of questioning was somewhat answered: he was here to hunt Faraday. So they had the same purpose... meaning that she will most likely have to stick with him. Great. That probably means he will actually tag along. Since they are practically hunting the same target, it would not make sense for them to not team up for the time being. Even he suggested that they should try to hunt the thing together. Well, looks like she will have to get used to his personality after all. It was a bit of a bummer, especially since he has made it clear that he was more so a ranged fighter than a melee combatant. but she has dealt with worse. Again, it could have been one of the Daigo twins. Hell, it could have been that Dai guy she teamed up with back during that joint training session. Anything is better than that Dai so far, even a Fullbringer who probably talks a little bit too much.

As such, once she made that conclusion, Kimiko tensed down and distanced herself from the lamp light to at least somewhat approach the Fullbringer, now simply standing on the air in front of the man's roof. She still did not fully trust him yet due to his nature and his ability to see her, but it wasn't out of hatred or plain meanness. Those last three years sure has made her completely distance herself from humanity a bit too much. "Alright... I... honestly have no idea what your Soul Dominance is about, but... I guess teaming up wouldn't hurt," she downright admitted. At least she was open to sharing some stuff with him now. It was a bit naive of her to say such a thing, especially since this person wasn't a Shinigami, but so far, she couldn't sense anything notably bad or evil about this person. Well, at least not for now, that is. "So... where exactly do you think we should start? I've looked from above and from here, and I still haven't fo-"

"Hey! You there!" The drunkard from the street suddenly called, shambling about away from the cat he was previously trying to pet as he pointed at the Fullbringer. He looked dazed and confused, as to expect from someone under the influence of alcohol, and was visibly wearing a sort of suit. He must be an office worker from one of the buildings nearest to downtown Karakura. "Y-Yeah, you there, gaijin! W-What... What are you doing there, eh? You talking to someone, eh? In the middle of the evening, eh? W-What...? Are you lonely or something?" He coughed after he mentioned the words, shaking his head as he attempted to push away the drunkenness out of his system. It was a good effort, but it was clearly not working as soon after, he was back to mumbling to himself. "W-Why's everyone talking to nothing today...? S-So weird... Dumbasses, all of them! This t-town is full of dumbasses!"

Kimiko stared at the drunken man with a comical deadpan for a moment as she listened to his rambling, somewhat leaving the task of getting rid of him to the Fullbringer. This person couldn't see her, so there was no point in even attempting to talk to him. However, the more he rambled on, the more curious she slowly started to become. That man... He mentioned people talking to nothing. "... Huh... No one told me there were other Shinigami here tonight..." she wondered aloud as she thought about this. Perhaps whatever that man was saying was nothing more than drunken rabble, but something about the way he particularly described that sighting of his seemed to be too specific to be the works of a bottle. People seeing ghosts are, after all, very rare, so to see him just talk about it in such a grandiose fashion was odd. "Maybe someone from another Squad took care of Faraday...? Why did nobody tell us about this...?" As she tried to make some sense of this, she turned her head from the drunken man towards the Fullbringer. "Did you come here alone or is there somebody else you know hunting Hollows right now?"

[Raphael Laurent]

He winced a bit, and pulled his hat down further over his head. Not very good with jokes, this one. He could already feel his humor getting more and more dry by the minute. First his cousin Randall and now this? Raphael groaned inwardly. Luca had been more entertaining would’ve risen to a bit more bait, well, a lot more bait, realistically. He didn’t know how much more of these people he could take. But, he had a job to do, just as she did, and so being rude about these things wouldn’t be it.

“Right. Was just kidding with ya; bit of living world humor, that. Oftentimes bosses will give you the job no one else wants when they don’t like you.” He hated explaining jokes. It made them a LOT less funny. But, at the very least, this was someone else who could assist in trying to find wherever the hell this hollow was. He hadn’t been able to find it for days now and he was beginning to get a little irritated. The last time he felt like he’d been so close to catching it but… it had eluded him at the last second. Tonight he was hell bent on finding it. He’d slept almost all day to be able to search all night.

He nodded, growing a fair bit more serious. “Well, if I had to be honest I think that we should-” Raphael stopped, interrupted by the drink in the street below, shouting at him as to why he was on the roof. Why he was talking to someone in the middle of the night? Too many questions that the drunk had, and Raphael couldn’t bring himself to answer them all. But… He’d said that everyon was talking to nothing? That didn’t make any sense… Raphael was the only fullbringer operating nearby, at least that he knew about and had heard of… “Go around the block. There’s a store that sells sake not too far from here. Looks like you still need a few more rounds.” Raphael reached into his pocket and threw about twenty thousand yen towards the man. “As a matter of fact, have a few rounds on me.”

“No.” His reply was firm and confident. He’d known of no one else. “But that’s not necessarily surprising. There are many fullbringers in the city and not all of them work for Uzaki Enterprises. Some work for Xcution, others are freelance and do all kinds of work, so we can’t say that there aren’t unknown parties.” He gazed at her a moment, studying her face before turning back towards the street. “Though, from how you describe, you don’t know of any shinigami also operating in the area.” He screatched at his chin a moment and put his hands in his pockets. “I don’t like this… There’s something weird about it.”

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko could see that the Fullbringer wasn't really thinking of her as good company already, which made her sigh internally. Well, looks like she will have to deal with yet another person who sorta dislikes her for not getting what they are saying to her. This typically tends to happen: she doesn't often get other people's jokes unless they are somehow directly related to one of her hobbies. It was a problem back then while she was Human while she was outside of the arcades and it still a problem now in this new Shinigami life. In all fairness, even if the man went on to explain his joke in detail so she could understand it better, she couldn't really understand why the man thought that what he said could be interpreted as being remotely pleasant to think about. Why would anyone believe that being given harder work by a hateful boss be funny at all? Then again... she's sort of been on the receiving end of a hateful boss ever since she entered school. Perhaps that was why she could not find humor in this joke.

Nevertheless, she did not want this man to see her company as a negative thing just because of that. "Sorry... I took it too literally. I'm just not good at getting jokes sometimes," she sighed out with a honest tone as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head, then comically pouted as she recalled him talking about "Living World humor". What is that even supposed to mean? Did he think she has been gone for the Living World for so long that she wouldn't get the comedy of this world anymore? "Also, I'm not that old. I only became a Soul about three years ago." Her complaint was swift and delivered much less awkwardly than her previous speech, a clear sign that she still felt somewhat connected to the Living World despite having been gone from it for a bit of a while now. Blame her nostalgia for this world, blame the feelings she still had for it, it didn't matter; even if the Spiritual World is now her home, she will always consider the Living World as her true residence... at least for now.

The two changed the subject relatively quickly once they fully decided to team up in order to hunt Faraday. Conversation was nice and all, but they both had a job to do, and it was not going to be solved with an exchange of words, as reminded by the drunkard below who promptly went on to shout at the Fullbringer for talking to nothing. The drunkard himself still seemed to be quite annoyed by his presence on the roof and appeared to be ready to continue shouting at the man, which didn't sound very fun to Kimiko. Even if he gave them a good clue as to what could possibly be going on with the Hollow they are both chasing, they really don't need a pitiful drunk chasing after them as well. Fortunately, it would seem that the Fullbringer had a good idea as to how they would get rid of him. That idea took the form of a pack of Yen bills. Kimiko was unable to properly see how much there was in that pack, but judging by the size, she'd guess it was enough for the man to have a better time elsewhere.

Naturally, the mere sight of the bills was enough to get the drunkard to stop and stare at them for a time. It was difficult to judge how he was feeling in regards to the bills. He was obviously happy upon seeing them for the first time, but about two seconds later, his eyes squinted and looked back towards the young man. Kimiko couldn't really blame him. On one hand, that money will grant him a bit more happiness before he passes out and wakes up the following morning with the worst headache ever, but on the other hand, he was given that money by someone he had absolutely no connections to. If anything, the Fullbringer could have easily appeared to be a criminal or a member of the Yakuza just for doing something like that. After a brief moment of consideration, however, the drunkard simply shrugged before chuckling, picking the bills up and heading towards the direction of the liquor store in question. "T-Thank you, kind stranger! I-I w-will never forget your k-kindness, haha!" He shouted in laughter before he then started mumbling a song to himself. Seeing him leave like that was enough to make Kimiko deadpan.

"Man... I saw my share of drunkards, but that's a new low," the Shinigami commented in regards to the drunkard's behavior. He already seemed beyond wasted to her. Is the store the Fullbringer mentioned going to even let him pass its main doors like this? It was a bit unlikely at this point. Unless a Japanese law has been changed since she died, stores and pubs can downright deny you entry if they notice that you are too drunk to even think straight. Although it's more of a question of reputation for the stores rather than safety for the drinkers themselves, it was always a law that she and many others considered to be vital. Considering that the man could barely even walk straight, took the money without even questioning where it came from and was previously petting a cat that wanted to be anywhere but near him... It was safe to say that it was clear the man had drank way too much. At best, he'll reach the store and maybe pick a bottle or two before they kick him out.

Oh well, at least he's not a problem to them anymore, leaving them to their intriguing matter. Apparently, there was nobody else from the Fullbringer side of things that was currently on the hunt for Faraday, or at least anyone that he personally knew from Uzaki Enterprises, which Kimiko now considered to be his main affiliation. Like he said, it is possible that other Fullbringers are on the case from other affiliations, but if this was true, she or her partner would have already seen them by now while coming here. Again, she would have also been notified of nearby Shinigami too during her briefing... so what gives? "Yeah... I don't like this either," she acquiesced as she thought about it with a more serious frown. "It could be a Quincy... but I don't know if they would bother with something like this..." She looked towards the lights of downtown Karakura shining in the distance for a moment as she pondered a bit further about this. This Hollow hunt was starting to become a lot more complicated than she thought it would have been.

Eventually, the Shinigami briefly hummed as she tried to think about what to do, then turned her gaze back towards the Fullbringer. "Let's follow that drunkard to the liquor store. I feel like we could maybe ask him about what's going on," she explained quickly, hoping that the man would understand where she was going with this. If the drunkard truly had seen a bunch of people talking to nothing, then he could maybe give them some directions to follow. That, and he wasn't that far away either. If they're fast enough, they could catch him before he gets kicked out of the liquor store too. Should she get the Fullbringer's approval, she would start moving around the block to try to catch the man at the liquor store, expecting her partner to be in tow via Air Ground. She was not really used to leading people in such a way, but she guessed that the situation sort of demanded it.

Once they would reach the liquor store, the Shinigami would stop in the air above the street and analyze the situation. The liquor store looked modest enough with a bright billboard and open aisles for people to come in and buy whatever they want. From there, they'd be able to see the drunkard look around in wonder as he gazed tenderly at each bottle offered to him. Well, looks like he hasn't been kicked out yet... That's good enough. At least he won't be too embarrassed to answer any questions the Fullbringer would throw at him. Before she could move on towards the store, however, she would stop upon seeing four figures of black jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards the aforementioned store. They were coming from the north, each seemingly wearing robes, a shoulder pad, and a sword at their hip. "Over there," she alerted the Fullbringer. Those people were clearly Shinigami officers, officers that she had no idea were currently patrolling the area. Why were they here?

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael watched the drunkard, dispassionately. The man would drink himself into a stupor, stumble home in an hour and then, after all that, would fall asleep as normal, wake up as normal and go to work. It was the usual thing, Raphael new, hell even America had things like that happen, usually more so. He wondered if the man had gone to a karaoke bar or something. He wondered why in the world that man was so drunk wandering around at this time of night. Truthfully, Raphael didn’t feel too bad about letting the man booze himself up more. It was better than him standing around being annoying with pointless questions.

It only aggravated him more when his new acquantaince state that she didn’t like it either, making him believe she had no idea what was going on. Raphael wanted to disagree when she’d mentioned quincy, as this just didn’t seem like something a quincy would do, when she suddenly suggested they follow the drunk. Hands still in his pockets, he sighed. He didn’t really want to shadow drunkards that didn’t know their limits, but the man might be able to shed at least a little bit of insight on what was going on. With a bit of a flourish of his hand, indicating he’d follow behind, the two set off.

Moving from rooftop to rooftop, using air-ground as sparingly as possible, he followed behind her pondering as best he could what in the hell was going on here. When finally they arrived, Raphael hopped down from his roof and approached the liquor store standing off to the side, wondering what kind of information she hoped to glean from all of this. The store was still light, so the man most likely would find exactly the booze he was looking for, at least Raph hoped so, he’d given him quite a bit of yen for booze. He leaned against the store, trying his best to relax and prepare for what they were about to do.

Yet, when his partner made note of something, Raphael looked up himself. Several figures, he only counted four but might’ve missed one, moving in their direction. He noticed, albeit barely, their uniform: the shihakusho of the shinigami, along with their typical weapon. Normally he wouldn’t have looked twice at them, just chalked them up to another patrol. But that made him ponder a bit, since, as the shinigami that he was checking the area with had stated that she didn’t think any shinigami were in the area. That made no sense; while he didn’t think they would necessarily come down in multiple patrols, if there were any that SHOULD have been in Karakura as well, then she should’ve known.

“You said that you didn’t know of any other patrols right? So…who the hell are they?”

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko could tell that Raphael wasn't really a fan of her suggestion. Truthfully, she didn't want to follow the drunkard either: he was definitely not in the best of moods to be interviewed, and he had just been convinced to leave them alone with a pack of bills. For all they know, the only thing his wretched mind can even think about for the time being was the fact that he could now buy more bottles to drink himself into unconsciousness. Hell, he's probably thinking of all of the brands he could buy with that pack of bills; after all, it was a large amount. The problem was that he was the only lead they could use to get to Faraday. Without him, they currently had nothing else, and considering that they still don't have a smidge of a clue as to where the Hollow may be... Well, they didn't really have much else of a choice. The issues that this drunkard may have that got him to drink so much are potentially not the things that are going to kill him if they cannot find this creature.

Reaching the store was fortunately easy. The convenience of the Air Ground technique allowed both she and the Fullbringer to move quickly above the block, and then reach for the establishment. A hue surrounded the store, with its lights shining brightly against the falling snow. For what it all was, it gave to Kimiko a sense of nostalgia. She had absolutely no connections to this place nor its contents, and yet, just gazing at it was enough to make her recall the pleasant times she's had with her friends right before the holidays. Those bright shiny nights in Akihabara, when the weather was cold and the night sky covered in the white puffs of the snowy clouds, were the best. As one would imagine, playing in the arcades with a snowy backdrop being displayed from the windows was something that was a bit special to her. It wasn't something that she could enjoy for very long, no, as she had to return to her dreaded home for the rest of the yearly celebrations, but it was a nice thing to think about now.

Just like those times in the arcades, however, she could not enjoy this moment for very long either. Soon after they reached the store and awaited the drunkard's exit from it, the familiar figures of black showed up. At first, she could only vaguely tie them to Soul Society due to their robes, but as they grew closer, their allegiances became clearer. They were clearly Shinigami, proper officers to boot who were fast enough to prevent her from replying to Raphael's question. None of them appeared to be rookies at a first glance, all seemingly old enough to possess a shred of veterancy. The one who reached her before the others, someone who she could consider to be their leader, was a bit taller in comparison to her. He wore glasses, sported a goatee which covered his chin alongside a cut mustache, and looked overall sharper than most. If she would have met the guy while she was a Human, she couldn't say how she would have reacted. Everything about him seemed to scream the word "thug", or "yakuza", someone up to no good. Now that he was close enough, she could see the insignia on his shoulder plate: the iris. He was from the Seventh Division. It seemed like the rest of his lackeys were from that squad too, though their features were not as remarkable compared to his.

Upon appropriately arriving at the scene, the man skimmed over the area for a moment, almost as if he was analyzing the place. His eyes trailed onto Raphael. He could sense his energy, though didn't want to make a fuss about it; rather, it was clear that he only wanted to focus on Kimiko for now. Once his analysis was complete, he smirked, raised his hand, and waved. "Good evening! Kimiko-chan, right? My name's Ryuuji. I heard about you! There isn't a whole lot of chicks who can fight as well as you do," he spoke with a friendly tone which lacked hostility. There was no professionalism here, no job etiquette: it seemed only like the beginning of a conversation. If it wasn't for the other three officers who were simply standing there above the ground in silence, it would have perhaps almost been casual.

This stroke Kimiko. The compliment was nice, but it felt wrong. As socially-inept as she may be with others, she wasn't an idiot and could see when someone was trying to fool her into thinking she was being welcomed here with open arms. She has met a few Shinigami during patrols or hunts before, and most of the time, it was purely professional. Compared to those, this was completely unprecedented. That, and the man outright gave his first name. He was clearly Japanese, and judging by his use of honorifics, he was aware of how the Japanese spoke to one another, so for him to outright use their first names only made this wrong feeling so much worse. It's not so bad when non-Japanese folk like Celes or someone close to her like Yu use her first name, but it's a totally different matter when it's someone from her native country. "Mhm... Nice to meet you too," she made her discomfort clear in an attempt to make him understand his wrongdoing. Fortunately, he did realize this, and in so doing, he peeped and sighed quietly to himself with an awkward smile.

"Ah, sorry. First names, right? It's a bad habit of mine, I apologize," he set out to quickly remediate this problem. It was smooth, Kimiko supposed. His excuse could have been much worse than the one he just gave out. However, this did not change the fact that he was still acting extremely casual with her.

"It's fine..." she nevertheless acquiesced as she allowed the bother to leave her mind. Whatever, she can ignore that for now. "I'm on hunting duty in this sector. Have you seen any Hollow around called Faraday?"

"Faraday... Oh, you mean that weird-looking one? Yeah, I remember now! We were able to take it down while we were patrolling around here. He was a few blocks away, actually," he explained rather absentmindedly as he recalled the event with a hand on his chin. It was a vague explanation, but it was a confirmation nonetheless.

Upon hearing his answer, Kimiko simply stood there for a moment as she ingested the information. Did this guy just tell her that Faraday had been taken out by them? Seriously? As much as she tried to not make herself appear too deflated, a wave of disappointment slowly came crashing into her as she realized that her target may have been eliminated by this people. She had been excited to take this Hollow down, to have a new challenge to face, and just like that, it had been taken away from her before she was even able to reach her. In a way, it wasn't something that totally surprised her; after all, it's not like there are no Shinigami patrols that are constantly watching over Karakura Town. Nevertheless, to just hear that Faraday was taken out like that with seemingly no fanfare or difficulty felt as though she had just received a direct punch to her stomach. Leaving out a preemptive sigh, she was about to simply accept this fact and prepare herself to return to Soul Society... but then, she slowly frowned.

No... No, that can't be right. There were so many things about this that just felt wrong. For one, Jin would not have sent her on a solo mission only for her target to be taken out by some random patrol whom she had absolutely no knowledge of. All Shinigami officers must be as informed as possible when hunting a target, and so they must be made aware of patrols within the area during their hunts. For two, Raphael was here and had made it clear that Faraday was no joke, so to hear Ryuuji simply describe it as "that weird-looking one" was downright just odd. For three, the fact that he described the act of killing that Hollow as being difficult was odd as well. Why did they need four veterans to take down one Hollow which she was sent to kill alone? Why couldn't she or Raphael hear them fighting if they were a few blocks away? So many things did not add up, and the cherry on top of it all was the fact that they were from the Seventh Division, a squad solely dedicated to the internal affairs of Gotei 13.

Eventually while they spoke, the drunkard from earlier would finally exit the alcohol store. As to be expected, he had bought a few bottles of alcohol all for himself with the money Raphael had given to him and was clearly happy to have used it. "Sake~, sake~, sake and... and s-sake~!" He sung to himself as he left the shop with his plastic bag, definitely still not entirely there due to the influence of the drink. There was nothing that seemed to explain how he was even able to purchase all of these drinks while being so drunk, but it was probable that the owner of the store was not in the mood to deal with him while being so close to closing ship for the holidays. There was, however, someone that did give him attention, and that was Ryuuji, as the moment the drunkard came out of the store, he turned his head towards him and blinked.

"Oh? That guy..." he found himself muttering to himself. His eyes behind his glasses turned from the drunkard, then Raphael, then Kimiko. The latter obviously noticed this, and he wasn't oblivious to the fact that she had been made aware of his attitude to what was going on. He was becoming more and more suspicious by the second. "I'm sorry, but could you please give me a moment? I need to talk to this guy right there."

Kimiko's frown only deepened upon receiving this request. "And how are you going to do that...? He's Human. He can't hear you."

"Please let me talk to him, Nakajima," he repeated his request, this time without any hint of friendliness in his tone of voice. By then, Kimiko understood that Ryuuji had no intentions to talk to the drunkard. She had no idea of what was going on here, but it was very clear that they were somehow related to one another and that the drunkard had done something that required this Shinigami's involvement. As such, upon hearing this, she slowly positioned herself in a way that would prevent him from reaching for the drunkard and, therefore, Raphael, and rested her left hand onto her sword's grip.

"No," she said then as her eyes grew wide, focused. The two of them stared at each other in silence for a moment. It was a palpable silence, one of tension. Raphael would most likely be capable of sensing their Spiritual Pressure starting to rise, as though they were prepared to fight. Eventually, Ryuuji broke out of the stare and simply chuckled, shaking his head, then sighed.

"Well, I tried," he said then. The very next second, he had unsheathed his sword, and it was coming right at Kimiko's head.

The rookie Shinigami clenched her teeth and immediately stroke his blade in return, letting their steel bounce against one another. Damn it, here we go. She had not been expecting to do this at all, but here she was now, crossing blades with a Shinigami during a Hollow hunt. As quickly as she could, she would parry his blade, swinging her blade multiple times in an attempt to strike him. It all came so fast to her that as soon as she hesitated to slash at the man's chest, he kicked her and sent her sliding downward against the air until she would reach the street near Raphael. "Tch...!" She hissed from the pain where she felt the kick, then turned her head towards the Fullbringer and the unaware drunkard. How the hell is she going to defend these guys against people that she doesn't even want to kill? "These guys want to kill him..."

In the air, Ryuuji stared at the street below with sharp eyes as he wondered about what to do. His lackeys, in the meanwhile, were ready to rush in as well to help out. They were ready to fight them to the death.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Kunio Ryuuji}

Kunio Ryuuji, the Smile of Nagamachi

Class: Shinigami - Unseated Officer (5)

Rank: 1

Squad: 7th Division

SPOILER: Click to show

{Sketchy Shinigami Officer (x3)}

Sketchy Shinigami Officer


Class: Shinigami - Unseated Officer (7)
Rank: 1
Squad: 7th Division

SPOILER: Click to show

{Nakajima Kimiko - Stats & Skills}

Statistics

Physical	Spiritual		Sensory	Miscellaneous
Strength: 83 (110-27) Speed: 337 (250+87)	Reiatsu Strength: 30 (40-10) Spiritual Pressure: 364 (270+94)		Instincts: 173 Senses: 132 Energy Sensory: 25	Light Aura: 60 Dark Aura: 40 Healing Expertise: 0

Skills

Mental	Battle		Body	Utility
Analyzing: 1 Strength of Will: 1 Learning: 1	Iaijutsu: 1 Martial Art - Hohō: 1 Battle Analysis: 1 Martial Art - Hakuda: 1 Battle Focus: 1		N/A	N/A

[Raphael Laurent]

The moment that the most senior looking of the Shinigami arrived, he looked right at Raphael and, from a glance, Raphael could tell that this Shinigami knew that Raph had spiritual power. But did he know how much? Should Raphael even LET on how much he actually knew, how strong he actually was? No. Best to save things like that. More bargaining chips that they had on their side, the better of they’d be. He was, in fact, determined to keep up this charade of not knowing that the human had spiritual abilities, which was fine by Raph. He listened, feigning to disinterest, to their conversation, listening to pleasantries. The man’s appearance wasn’t necessarily frightful, hell Raphael saw yakuza every now and then, but it was the man’s nature. It just felt…off, like with every word he was lying to everyone around him.

His explanation of the takedown of this hollow that they called Faraday bothered him especially. For a hollow that they were supposedly sending Shinigami out on sanctioned manhunts, the explanation was too flippant and nonchalant. There would’ve been some kind of communication that they’d taken it down, that they’d beaten it. What this man was saying just didn’t make much sense. Make matters worse, Kimiko seemed just as perplexed and in disbelief as Raphael did…or was it just disappointment? No, hopefully she could smell the bullshit this guy was peddling from a mile away. Nothing that he was saying made any sense.

Raphael was about to call him out on his lies when he heard the door to the store open and the drunk man come stumbling out, croning to himself about the sake that he’d just purchased. Kimiko seemed to be catching on almost as fast as Raph had. Talking to this man would be impossible, for this Shinigami, given that they were dead and the man was alive. Even if he could see them, given his current state… Did this Shinigami realize that the man could see them? He must realize, given the way that the drunk had noticed him and, at the man’s insistence, Raphael’s blood ran cold and hot at the same time.

At her words, Raphael put his hands in his pockets and finally let his own spiritual power flare out against theirs. “Fuck… If it’s all the same with you, I’d rather NOT have to kill Shinigami. Anyway you think we can just…rout them?” He asked, looking at her. “Not that I necessarily couldn’t, mind you, but I’d rather not if it can be avoided.”

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The drunken man was in trouble, that much Kimiko was very well-aware of now. As insignificant and nonchalant Ryuuji has previously attempted to make himself out to be, it only took her the span of maybe about three or four seconds for her to realize that his skills surpassed hers. He was just a tad faster, just a tad stronger, and worse yet, he also wasn't afraid to harm her. It meant that he could not give a single ounce of care about the laws of the Shinigami and how betraying his fellow sister-in-arms was the equivalent of a death sentence for the Gotei 13. If he could kill her there without any resistance, he would without hesitation. Consequently, a slew of questions popped in the rookie's head. Why would the man do this? For what purpose would he deliberately risk both his career and the rest of his spiritual existence? To what end? Was she and Raphael trampling on some sort of covert operation the Seventh Division is coordinating? Is that why they suddenly need to be disposed?

Eventually, she realized that answering any of the questions now would be pointless, as there was simply not enough information at her or Raphael's disposal. This was too abrupt, and so, the only thing they can do in this situation is react. Reaching this conclusion, she huffed and returned her blade to its scabbard as she adopted her Iaijutsu stance. "I'd rather not kill them either..." she answered Raphael's remark as she allowed her reiatsu to rise further, with her eyes firmly stuck on Ryuuji and his cronies, "... but these guys want not only to kill us, but also an innocent Human. I won't let any of that happen." Her words were serious, focused and to the point, as though she wanted the Fullbringer to understand how she viewed things here as much as she possibly could. In her words was also a hint of... excitement... and the slightest bit of dark reiatsu within her aura. Huh. "I'm going to try to rout them away from here. Please get this guy to safety."

After she said those words, she pushed herself off the ground and returned to the skies with a few hops, recovering from the previous kick as she did so. That kick had definitely hurt her, but she was managing it well-enough so far. Damn it, this sucked. Everything about this sucked. However, in a way, it was something new, something different. She had never fought a Shinigami like this before, especially not one who was visibly stronger than her. It was making her blood boil with excitement. "My name is Nakajima Kimiko, proud member of the Eleventh Division!" She called loudly enough for Ryuuji and his lackeys to hear her, causing at least the latter to focus on her with curious gazes as she deliberately tried to get their attention. "I will make sure that we all have a great fight!"

For a moment, the four opponents simply stared at her, visibly left astonished by her introduction before Ryuuji simply smiled. "Well, well, that was a nice one. Reminds me of the good old days," he remarked, then appeared before Kimiko again with Shunpo, "but I don't have time for this." Their swords crossed once again, with Kimiko having this time anticipated his move. The impact of their weapons alone was enough to cause a loud metallic noise to resonate throughout the area, causing her to wince. Upon noticing this, the man pushed his blade further and further against hers, showcasing his strength to her. "It's just one Human! Don't get in our way!" His voice was now loud, unabashed, definitely the remnants of whatever age he was once part of. He was definitely once a brute who was part of some gang, possibly an ancient clan of sorts. Admittedly, this somewhat caused Kimiko to admire him a tad bit. However, in response to this, she simply smirked.

"Oh, please... Now that we're here, this isn't about the Human anymore... I just want to have a great fight with you," she said as Ryuuji continued to press her sword onto her, her gaze piercing into his. The flash of darkness that the man perceived in her reiatsu caused him to frown momentarily, as though taken aback by what he had just seen, and before he could do so much as react against it, he fell for one of Kimiko's most prominent techniques. With a brazened lack of care for her safety, she swiftly slid her sword against his to the right, then spun before she then suddenly fueled the arm holding her blade with reiatsu. This caused it to reach a shocking amount of speed before slashing at the man's chest, causing blood to gush out from his robes. The man immediately recognized the technique: it was the likes of Shunpo Karin, the act of applying the increase in speed Shunpo provides to only but a single limb. The pain he felt from the attack shocked him.

"Argh!" He cried out as he took a step back, clenching his teeth as he briefly held his stomach. The wound wasn't deep, but it hurt, and the pain was enough to make him more than just a bit angry. In response to this, he clenched his teeth, then called out to the lackeys that had only been staring thus far. "Don't just stand there! Go get that Human! Kill him, and mind the brat in white!" He shouted in frustration, causing the lackeys to balk, then nod quickly before rushing over towards the drunken man's and Raphael's direction, then turned his head back towards Kimiko. "Alright... I have to admit that I honestly just wanted you to leave, but now you pissed me off. I'm going to make sure you remember the name of Kunio Ryuuji, Fifth Company!"

In the meanwhile, the three lackeys rushed as quickly as they could towards the drunkard and Raphael, with some of them even preparing to use Kidō against him. The man had absolutely no idea as to what was going on, and having seen Raphael speak to seemingly nothing, he pointed at him and gasped. "H-Hey, it's you again! Y-You talk to nothing t-too? So y-you're a dumbass too! Wait, n-no, I mean you're a... you're a good dumbass, hehe~," he seemingly tried to appear as innocent as possible so as to make sure he could still get money from Raphael despite the name calling. He really wasn't subtle about it. "W-What is it with people speaking to nothing today? W-What, d-do ghosts exists or something? Why did... Why did no one tell me about this? C-Can you teach me how? T-That would be so cool... I-I could talk to No Face! Haha, that would be great~!"

SPOILER: Click to show

{Technique Used (Reiatsu: 3950/4050)}
Technique Name: Shunpo Karin (瞬歩カリン, Pure Flash Steps)

Class: 5

Technique Type: Kidō

Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects

The famous "partial Shunpo" technique. This allows the user to initiate a single movement at Shunpo speed with one limb. This cannot be used without initiating the forward momentum. The user will need to move their arm the way they normally would before this technique can be activated. Momentum for this technique cannot be controlled. This means once the user initiates this technique, they cannot stop their limb from the movement.

How to use technique

Stated above.

Drawback

Also stated above. Higher Reiatsu cost than normal Shunpo. Limit is once per post. More taxing on stamina than regular Shunpo.

Made by: Admin

[Raphael Laurent]

Her reaction justified his thoughts. This didn’t make any sense, either to him or to her; these guys shouldn’t be here. But it didn’t really matter. Asking questions, going over it in their heads, it wouldn’t change what would have to be done. He watched as she knelt in her stance, readying for an attack. He admired her hutzpah and gung-ho attitude, but wondered if she’d be able to get rid of these guys. Yet, as she asked him to take the guy to safety, Raphael could detect excitement in her words, an elation to be fighting someone. Ah, great…just like Luca. He resisted the urge to sigh before stepping in between the man and the Shinigami. She gave a hell of a battle cry, though. He also made sure to note the squad number. Eleven. Fighters, perhaps?

Her words seemed to startle the majority of them, though the man she’d called Ryuuji seemed to be quick to recover and launched an attack against her as quickly as possible. The two clashed blades and Ryuuji seemed to hold the advantage, between the two of them and he pushed to capitalize on his advantage. One would be forgiven for thinking that his Shinigami associate might need some assistance. He sighed just a bit when she said that the only thing that concerned her was fighting with the two of them. Hopefully, she worked a bit better with others within her squadron. Not that Raph was necessarily complaining. If she wanted to take that dude on, far be it from him to stop her.

He chuckled just a bit when he watched her use a technique similar to one he’d seen before from Luca, watching as a limb suddenly moved much faster than the rest of her. The man had definitely felt that one, though how would he react? Poorly, it seemed, as he suddenly yelled in an angry response. He’d fallen for it, though, being too eager for victory. The wound was shallow, which only made it worse, and sent blood flying everywhere. Raphael suppressed a chuckle, at the man’s angry face. That was when he heard the man tell his lackeys to kill the human and to watch the “brat in white”. Oh that one made his blood boil a bit. “Mind the brat in white, huh?” He watched, silently as the man screamed his own name. Loved to hear himself talk, didn’t he?

He heard the man beginning to go on and on behind him and sighed. “I’ll be with you in a moment, sir. Then you can tell me more about No Face. But for now, please stay there.” Raphael made a bit of a gesture with his hands and the concrete below the man’s feet would suddenly grow soft and cause him to sink in before stopping just above his ankles and resolidifying. Then, looking at the Shinigami that decided to “rush” him, Raphael held out his right hand, energy crackled and danced between his fingers and suddenly he fired a lavender beam of energy from his hand, which while similar in appearance to a cero and fired right at the three heading towards him with a power of 485 RS. “Mind the brat in white, boys.”


Stats

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength: 145

Speed: 100 > 200

Reiatsu Strength: 260 (325 w type)

Spirit Pressure: 345 (431 w type)

Instinct: 150 (112 w type)

Senses: 100 (75 w type

Energy Sensory: 150 (51 w type)

Reiatsu: 4310 - 50 for soul command - 200 for enhanced spirit waves
4060/4310 reiatsu remaining

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko found herself grinning as she slowly got into this. There it was: the adrenaline, the fear of death, the uncompromising nectar which pushed her to fight. It was the very same thing which she experienced during her fight against Teresa, the Hollow which she fought before her graduation from the Academy, and Yunorashi, the spirit remaining with the Zanpakuto of Celes, her mentor. She could feel it burn through her senses like a bucket of scalding hot ecstasy poured onto her brain, causing both her blood to boil and her excitement to go beyond simple pleasure. Her body ached for combat, so much so that her fingers became solid as though her grip had turned frozen around her blade and scabbard, and her eyes stared deep into her opponent's. The quiet woman Raphael had met only but about less than a hour ago had disappeared, and in her place instead stood a loud demon brandishing a sword with utmost efficiency. It was a mesmerizing transformation.

It was difficult for Ryuuji to comprehend the sheer contrast between that girl and the one before. The look in his eyes, a mixture of shock and awe, made him appear as open as a book. He was well-aware of the cruelty and brutality of the Eleventh, of their bloodthirsty and downright-savage ways, but never has he dealt with a member of that disgusting Division who acted in such a way, and it showed. He was stronger than Kimiko and also faster, and yet her spirit shocked him enough to force him to almost back away. Even though she appeared as a simple unseated officer, there was something about the sheer amount of reiatsu that he could sense from her as well as the darkness within it that almost made him freeze. It did not feel as though she was fighting a simple Shinigami who happened to be very good at pulling a sword out of its scabbard; rather, it more so felt as though he was fighting a beast or even a Hollow who wore the skin of a Shinigami.

In response to this, the Smile of Nagamachi attempted his best to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. His blade was swung quickly in Kimiko's direction, flying by her face and body several times as she moved forward to continue the battle. The man's skill surpassed hers just a bit, thus allowing him to cut here and there, but the fear he felt from fighting the girl was preventing him from eliminating her. Every time he would attempt to strike her, he'd sense that strange reiatsu, and he'd found himself taken aback before hesitating. Of course, this led him to be hit several times over, as the woman's mastery over Iaijutsu was not to be trifled with. She swung and swung and swung without stop, with her movement directly correlating with each of her attacks. Unlike him, none of her attacks contained hesitation anymore. She has grown beyond that, with her hate for the man's actions and that cursed emotional power coursing through her veins preventing her from showing any mercy.

Briefly as they fought, Ryuuji was compelled to turn his eyes towards his subordinates to see if they at least completed the task he has given to them. In the brief moment in which he was able to see them, the three lower-ended officers were heading as fast as they could towards the Fullbringer and the drunkard, who was still completely oblivious to what was happening around him. They were all heading towards the two by air, downright sprinting towards them with the first brandishing his unsheathed sword and the two behind him raising his hands as they were both about to cast a spell. Judging by their hand gestures and the incantations that was starting to come out of their mouth by the time the first man was about to close in on Raphael, they were about to cast something which was going to do some damage to the nearby environment. "All who should know, let it be foretold that the typhoon blows on! Hadō #23: Tama!" They shouted in unison, and shortly after, a fireball came from their palms, consequently causing two of them to head towards their targets. From below, it looked like two bright lights about to crash onto the street, and from above, the Smile of Nagamachi seemed almost relieved. That was, until he suddenly saw the Human in white sink into the concrete and shoot energy to blast from his fingers.

Both the light and the noise caused by Raphael's attack caused Ryuuji and Kimiko to stop. The first found himself horrified as he watched the beam swallow his subordinates' magical projectiles without any effort before striking them, causing them to cry in pain and fall down onto the street or one of the nearby rooftops. None of them had died, but the damage was such that they were all knocked down almost effortlessly. They could not get up. As for the second, the sheer surprise she felt from witnessing such power was enough to momentarily cause her focus onto her opponent to be broken. She had not expected at all that the person she had just met could do something so spectacular, especially not a Fullbringer of all people. Who could blame her, really? It was as if a literal Cero had come out of Raphael, a literal laser beam that effortlessly eliminated the three stooges Ryuuji had sent in his direction. It's not everyday that you can see such an incredible thing happen.

There was a third person in that equation that was not to be ignored, and that was the drunkard. Although he could not see the Shinigami, he could see that Raphael was now literally somewhat sunken into the ground, and he was also able to witness the lights. Unsurprisingly, all of this chaos caused by these supernatural forces was causing him to be more than just a little bit astonished. "Ah! W-What the hell! All these... All these lights, what the hell, what the hell!" He found himself babbling as he held himself near a wall, looking away. Almost luckily enough, it seemed that the action was making him a bit dizzy. "W-What is this, s-s-s-sentai?! A-Are they filming t-that stupid ghost TV show here?! W-Why did they not tell me about t-this?! D-Dumbasses! They're all dumbasses!" He found himself trying his best to walk away despite the dizziness, all the while he comically pointed at Raphael. "Y-You! You must be an actor! T-Tell me what this s-show is b-before I c-call my l-lawyer!"

This was all getting to Ryuuji, and for a moment, the Smile of Nagamachi faltered in his disbelief. He was visibly shaken by the sheer amount of power the Human had just demonstrated, and the more she fought that accursed Shinigami of the Eleventh, the shakier he became. Eventually, his gaze grew more fearful of the potential outcome of this battle, and with clenched teeth, he delivered one powerful kick to Kimiko's stomach to launch her away from him, then grabbed something from his pockets. "Damn it, screw this!" He shouted as he squeezed his fist around some kind of object. "This is not over!" Once he was done talking, he then threw the object towards his feet. From where Kimiko stood, the object seemed to be spherical in shape, white, and expelling some kind of light smoke. It did not take a genius to figure out what would happen then, and already, she could feel the absolute rage suddenly build in her mind as she realized what it was.

"Oh no, come on!" She ranted before she was interrupted by a sudden explosion which covered the area in a thick smoke screen. The deployment of the smoke - an artificial, mist-like, gassy formation - was such that it covered the skies and the ground below with it, causing Kimiko to immediately lose sight of Ryuuji. She could not sense anymore: he had ran away, ninja-style. The cowardliness of the man was such that it made the woman snarl. "Damn it! Coward! You're a disgrace!" She shouted in retaliation, clenching her teeth in rage at the sight of such a great lack of honor from her opponent as her reiatsu grew darker and darker still. Even her blade seemed to ring in anger from what's happened. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to stop the man from running away, and as she realized that, the darkness in her reiatsu slowly evaporated until she eventually scoffed and begrudgingly headed towards the streets to check on the others.

Upon arriving on the scene, she could see that the drunkard was at least alright from the looks of things, and so was Raphael. At least they looked better than she did, as in comparison, she could still feel the heavy kicks she received to the stomach as she stood there before them. There were also a few cuts here and there, though at least none of them seemed too bad. "Sorry... I couldn't stop him from running away," she apologized to the Fullbringer right away, definitely still very unhappy about what transpired above, but realizing that her reaction may seem too intense for the young man. He probably didn't need to see her like this. "I... I guess everyone's okay?"

The drunkard at least seemed he was okay, though the sheer chaos that suddenly boomed around him had definitely shaken him, causing him to quite literally hug a nearby pole for his safety. "Ah... Ah...! I-Is it over? I-Is the stupid ghost TV show o-over?" He asked Raphael, comically shaking in his boots as the alcohol and stress both caused him to hiccup. "Y-You better pay m-me more for b-bringing me into this! A-A lot of money! Tons of money! T-That was s-stupid! S-Stupid dumbasses!"

[Raphael Laurent]

Admittedly, Raphael had not expected the technique to be quite so powerful himself, and even wrapping his own feet in the concrete didn’t stop him from sliding back a bit. Yet, it had the desired effect as it consumed the two fireballs and hit the three men, sending them sprawling against either the rooftops or the street. His hand crackled with energy a bit more before snuffing out. Yet the great Nagamachiatto, or whatever the hell he called himself Raph really hadn’t paid the loudmouth much attention, suddenly seemed far less excited to carry out the fight, though it seemed to have started his companion as well. With a smoke bomb, the suspicious Shinigami suddenly seemed to turn tail and run. Unfortunately, his retreat caused a rather upset reaction from Kimiko.

He opened his mouth to say something but, deciding that it wasn’t his place to lecture her, shut it again. Purposefully, he ignored the ramblings of the man behind him. The drunk was just getting on his nerves now. When she finally descended to them she looked awful, covered in several cuts and a few bruises. BUT at least she was still alive; silver linings. And they’d managed to protect the man behind him as well, much as Raphael was beginning to wish that they hadn’t. The man was loud and obnoxious…and annoying. He honestly just wanted to punch the man in his face, knock him out, something.

“It’s fine. Obviously there’s more going on here that we don’t know about. Thankfully neither he nor I were hurt. Unfortunately, it looks like you got a bit hurt and I don’t know anything about healing. My talents lie in injuring. Oh, on moment.” He turned to the drunkard, a puzzled look on his face, before pulling out an old address that led to nowhere and handed it to the man. “If you go here, sir, you will be fully compensated for your unwitting participation. I’m afraid that no one from our financial department is here, at the moment. Also, I understand that suddenly being drawn into a TV show is not always easy but please carry yourself with a bit more decorum. You are still in public, after all.”

As if to keep up appearances, he pulled out his phone, dialed a fake phone number and pretended to talk, all the while, talking to Kimiko. “No, don’t worry about it. I know that he just left the job site, but it can’t be helped. No, no it can’t be helped and since it can’t be helped we’ll just have to let him go. No, I don’t care if he’s my costar, the guy’s a prima donna. Look, if he’s really needed for the second episode then we’ll either get someone else or find some way to get him back.” He took a few steps away from the drunk man, stepping a bit closer to Kimiko. “We can’t afford to keep backing up production like this! I need to go where?! But we just finished… Alright, alright, fine.” He ended the call and put his phone back into his pocket. “Unfortunately, I’ve gotta get going to the next set. You need to go home.”

[Nakajima Kimiko]

Kimiko tried her best to resist the pain as she now stood before Raphael, her brief battle with the cowardly Ryuuji having now passed. She could barely feel the pain back then when she fought the man, so much so that she could outright ignore his blows, but that was probably because of all of the adrenaline going to her head whenever she fights anything. No adrenaline means lesser pain tolerance, and she had to admit that although those wounds were not deep and didn't even draw that much blood, they sure stung. Her stomach was the one thing on her body that hurt her the most, probably because she had received about one or two powerful kicks right in the same spot during the fight. She was no specialist when it came to her body anatomy, yet even she knew that the pain she was currently feeling from there meant that something was perhaps broken. Her guess? All that pain, in reality, came from her chest, more specifically a broken rib.

Unfortunately, she will have to go through it for now. No one around here had any medical expertise to give to her, not even the guy who just downright blasted those three goons from the sky, but at least there was nobody else around here that would make sure to worsen those wounds of hers for the time being. Not even the weaklings the Fullbringer had taken out could even do so much as say anything at the moment. Like Celes, she needed to stand strong before all damage, even if she isn't as resistant as her mentor. How was she going to do that? Simple. All she needed to do was take the pain, put it in a place that she will eventually forget, and move on. That stinging sensation will not be totally gone and she will still look awful to many, but at least she won't just stand there and do nothing but suffer from the damage she has just received. So long as she and Raphael both still has that mystery at hand with those strange Shinigami and that missing Hollow, there is no time to allow suffering to prevail.

Completely unrelated to what was all said and done was the old man that kept on rambling when she arrived. His words were just as random as the ones Kimiko heard before, and quite frankly, they were enough to severely undermine what had just happened. On one hand, she was glad to hear this man's words. It allowed her to momentarily forget Ryuuji's ultimate cowardice before defeat, and for some levity to be raised from this whole mess of a situation. On the other hand, she couldn't deny that he was starting to become more annoying than ever before. All the rage the Shinigami felt, all the anger she sported on her face, had been completely replaced with a comical look of awkward disbelief. "Has he... been like that this whole time...?" She legitimately asked to Raphael in an effort to learn about what was going on. The swordswoman had a bit of a clue as to what the drunkard was thinking, but she'd rather not make any assumptions. All things considered, he wasn't that far off, and if anything, she was kind of glad he could not see her, especially not while she looks this awful with a bloodied sword in her hands.

Funnily enough, it seemed that the man's ramblings was the perfect way for Raphael to attempt to shoo him away. Using the excuse that the light show the guy just saw was conveniently indeed all part of some show, the Fullbringer immediately started talking in a professional manner with the drunkard, something which prompted Kimiko to simply stare in silence with that awkward expression of hers. It was all so... stereotypical, like something straight out of her one of her old manga. A part of her legitimately wanted to laugh at all of this, though there was a difference between seeing it now in-person and seeing it on a drawn panel. Fortunately for all of them, the drunkard was so overwhelmed by both the dialect and the things that were given to him that all he could do was just stand there and take it all in. It looked like he barely had any more strength to call any of these people "dumbasses", as he was so lovingly shouting about only a few moments ago. Hard to complain about anything when you're purposefully not being listened to, as Raphael so easily presented with his fake phone call.

"I... uh... f-fine! I... I-I will t-take this to your b-boss! H-He'll better give me a-a lot o-of money for this! E-Else... E-Else, I'll p-push him!" He said with a shaky tone as he took the address of which he had absolutely no idea it did not exist, then started walking away, all the while he held on his precious bag of alcohol battles. It was easy to tell that he wasn't thrilled at all about the fact that he would need to bring his complaints to someone that wasn't in front of him, seeing as he had made sure to leave before Raphael even told him to. However, given both his mental state and that the fact that he was holding onto a paper that would lead him to absolutely nowhere, it was clear that they would not have to deal with him again. Just seeing him slowly become smaller and smaller as he distanced himself from them was enough for Kimiko to feel a wave of relief wash over her senses. No more would they have to deal with that guy, and no more would they have to smell that stench of alcohol which he emanated.

With all that said and done, the area became quiet again. The swordswoman was glad to see that nobody else but that drunkard had reacted so intensely from the battle which just occurred. A few people will most likely have their memories of the lights which suddenly appeared over the area completely erased, but that was about it. Not having to deal with a panicking crowd of people gave them more time to think about what to do next. "So... we're dealing with hostile Shinigami..." she found herself saying as she pondered about all that's happened, the disappointment of the fact now too big to allow her to care about the Fullbringer's powers at the moment. Obviously, she was not happy about this. The last thing she wanted to do right about now was fight the equivalent of her coworkers, even if they were not from the same squad. Ryuuji might have given her a good fight prior to him fleeing the scene, but she had not come here to fight her fellow kin. "This makes no sense... First, a missing Hollow, now this. It's like they wanted to kill that guy to hide something from us..."

As she thought about this, a moan of pain was heard from one of the officers Raphael had taken out nearby. It grabbed Kimiko's attention for her to turn a cold gaze towards him. He was laying on the ground, his body broken and in need of medical aid from the fall alone. Unluckily for him, there had been absolutely nothing to prevent his fall from being less painful. The swordswoman wanted to pity him for having such suffered damage, but considering he was once earlier trying to literally kill a innocent Human with his friends, she had a hard time mustering any care for his injuries. What mattered most instead was the possible information they could get out of him. "Well... I guess we can try asking him if he knows anything about this. At least he could lead us somewhere..." she said openly to Raphael. It was their only lead now: it would be a shame not to use it.