Glassy Skies [Social]

[Deleted]

Taking a deep breath, Camila stared into the air above her. She genuinely didn't expect to have made it this far. She was finally, finally back in Soul Society for the time being. She'd need to take the time to make sure she wasn't, well, executed on the spot, but that shouldn't have been too too difficult, especially if she took Kaen's advice for the time being. Granted, she was more or less doing the opposite of that by rushing deep into Seireitei, but that was neither here nor there for the time! What mattered is that the most important parts of his advice were being followed for the time. Ultimately, she needed to hit up a few places here before she was simply shunted out or executed by those that saw her.

While she now had a way into Soul Society thanks to a certain Captain, actually maintaining her time in here was going to be far from easy. For starters, though, there were a few places she needed to hit first; the Squad 10 barracks, a noble household, Squad 12's barracks, and then finally, Ludwig's office. If all went well, and her little adventure paid off, Camila might've had a home back in Soul Society waiting for her. Ultimately, that was heavily dependent on how receptive people were of her. If all went well, she'd be in a good place. If not, then she'd get what was coming to her by charting through contested territory within Seireitei. It was a gamble she felt she needed to take.

Up first on her list; the Squad 10 barracks. She'd need to take the time to see if she could find Celes. Getting her support was absolutely the girl's first goal. If that went well, then everything should've been smooth from there! Doing what she could to keep to the shadows, Camila did what she could in order to remain out of sight as she slinked into the Barracks. Surely Celes had to be around, right? Even if she wasn't, there had to have been people that wouldn't recognize her by her appearance. Sure, news of a traitor had to be somewhat well-shared, but there was no way that this couldn't have been so well-covered that she'd be attacked on sight, right?

At least, that was the hope. Keeping herself to the walls of the barracks and low to the ground, Camila took note of almost everything she'd seen while inside. She had to keep herself hidden to the best of her ability, even if that wasn't exactly something she could do very easily. Unfortunately, releasing was simply not an option as that'd draw way too much attention to herself, leaving her to make do with her own abilities; It was genuinely a miracle that she hadn't been caught thus far. Unbeknownst to her, though, it seemed like her luck was finally starting to come to its end. Finding the nearest empty room, Camila threw herself down onto her back, and sighed. This experience was going to be far more grueling than she'd hoped.

[Wynne Kuchiki]

Pulling herself out from underneath the bed, Wynne dusted herself off before staring at her new arrival who had plopped herself right above her. What met her eyes was an attractive woman around her age with short black hair. This woman was unfamiliar to her, but she hadn’t yet met everyone of Squad 10. Surprisingly she just hadn’t had the time. Graduating from the academy involved a lot of paperwork. Paperwork that she had to do for some reason. Weren’t things like that supposed to be handled by someone else?

Pushing those thoughts aside, Wynne wondered how she was going to explain this embarrassing situation to her visitor. When she had first visited the barracks, she was appalled by how messy it was. Sure it was relatively clean, but only in the noticeable places. Trash and other such things were hidden under beds and in corners. Plus this whole place needed dusting. Something she quickly got to work doing and thanks to her small size, it actually wasn't too hard of a task. This was the last room she had to knock out, and she was just about finished. Pretty impressive if she had to say so herself.

“Hey! Sorry to surprise you, I was just finishing cleaning up. My name’s Wynne Kuchiki, it's a pleasure to meet you. Are you part of Squad 10 as well?”

Putting all of her cleaning tools back into her bucket, Wynne placed it on the ground before giving the mysterious girl her full attention. Her sigh after coming in sounded heavy. Almost as if she had a lot on her mind. Probably did too as most people didn’t just collapse into a bed the moment they entered a room. Although she was pretty sure this room shouldn’t have an owner, she must’ve mistaken it for another room though. Why else would a fellow shinigami be in here then?

[Deleted]

“Hey! Sorry to surprise you, I was just finishing cleaning up. My name’s Wynne Kuchiki, it's a pleasure to meet you. Are you part of Squad 10 as well?” These simple words made Camila’s heart stop. Looking up almost immediately, she made eye contact with the girl that seemed to come from nowhere. A look of panic quickly rose on Camila’s face, before calming down the moment she’d realized just what Wynne had said. Letting out a soft sigh of relief, Camila threw her face down into the bed. ”Yeah,” she said, ”You could say that. I’m uh, an old V.C. from Squad 13 here to visit Vice Captain Celes. Haven’t seen or heard from ‘er in a while, so I wanted to see if I could do so. As a surprise. Generally without anyone knowing.” She chuckled, sitting up.

Turning to face Wynne again, Camila couldn’t help but smile. She certainly drew the rogue’s attention, that much was certain. ”For what it’s worth, Wynne, it’s a pleasure to meet you too. I’m Ca-“ she cut herself off immediately, quickly realizing that giving the girl her name probably wasn’t the best of options, ”Riegan. Riegan Whitewinter, it’s nice to meet you too.” She gave the girl a pseudo-salute. ”So, Squad 10? Were you assigned here or did you choose? Because, if the latter, I’d like to say you made a good choice. The Vice Captain is an amazing person. So long as you stay on her good side, I promise you that you won’t really find a better friend than ‘er.”

Looking around, Camila did what she did to take in the area around her. She seemed to be in some sort of unoccupied bedroom. Huh. Looked like her intuition seemed to pay off for the time being. ”So, what brought you to seek out the Gotei of all places?” She didn’t want to say too much more than that, as doing so likely would’ve given Wynne Cami’s own views on the Gotei, which could’ve easily been dangerous, given she had no idea how the girl felt toward the militaristic society that had been formed here. ”Surely you’ve got some reason for being here, yeah? Don’t feel the need to answer if you’d rather not, but I’m certainly curious.”

Stretching her neck, Camila once again threw herself back onto the bed. ”Oh! You’re cleaning here, yeah? I’ll straighten this up here in a second; not gonna put extra work on you if I don’t have to. Squad work can be… rough at times. If there’s anything I could do to help you out with that, don’t hesitate to lemme know, I’d be glad to lighten your workload if I’m able to, y’know?” Camila gave the girl a friendly smile. She felt the need to offer, even if only to try to make up for her past actions. She wasn’t going to burden Wynne with that, though. For now, she was focused on making a new ally in this girl.

[Wynne Kuchiki]

“I chose this squad as I felt it was the perfect one for me. Protecting others and treating my squadmates as family? Name a better squad than that.”

Although she had barely spent any time here, Squad 10 was already close to Wynne’s heart. It was welcoming and made her feel at home. It was so good in fact that she was even tempted to move into the barracks! The only thing that stopped her was that her parents would no doubt make a fuss, making the whole process harder than it should be. Plus she had to admit, the Kuchiki manor and the normal barracks were quite different in style and comfort. Still sacrifices had to be made for the things you love.

“And if you're talking about Celes, you know she’s a captain now? It happened a little while ago. Were you traveling out and about or something? Maybe a long mission? Oh but if it's top secret you don’t have to tell me!”

Not knowing Celes was captain was a little odd, but Reigan did say she was an old vice captain. Wynne knew there were some missions that took months, usually the more secretive ones. She was glad that she’d probably never have to do such a mission since they were reserved for the higher ups. Can’t really trust students just out of the academy to handle something so important after all. And she didn’t really blame them for that either, after all she’d hate to have to do a month long mission with how little experience she had.

“For becoming a shinigami, it was expected of me as a Kuchiki and for my talent in Kido. I don’t want to bore you with details, but basically protecting everyone I can is a goal of mine. People need protection and that is what we shinigami are here for. We are protectors first and foremost, although sadly that fact seems to slip by most shinigami.”

Shaking her head, Wynne tried not to let that little tidbit bring her down. She was still coming to terms with the fact that her fellow students care more about looks and fame than protecting those that needed it. There were a few good apples of course, but they were the minority. She hadn’t seen all the shinigami though, so maybe it was just the students in the academy? She doubted it, but you never knew.

“Yeah this was my last room. Almost done too, except for the bed now I guess. And I will! Maybe training or something if you’re down? Since I just graduated from the academy I noticed that I’m probably the weakest in my squad. I want to change that as quickly as I can.”

[Deleted]

Hearing Wynne's mention of treating her squad as a family struck a soft-spot for Camila. She gave the girl a smile, but quickly ended up lost in thought over the matter. She began to wonder; if she'd joined a different Squad - namely Squad 10, from the sounds of it - would things have gone any differently? Would she have ended up in the same place she was in now? It was far too hard for her to say. "That's really great to hear," she said, focusing her attention back on Wynne, "I'm glad to hear that things are working out for you! Just... make sure to cherish those around you, yeah? S'always hard to say who might need a little more support than others." She couldn't really maintain eye contact after saying her piece, and went on to hear Wynne's next response.

Turning back to the girl again, Camila listened with a look of shock on her face. "Good lord," she chuckled, "I'm gone a year and she's already gone and become a Captain. S'far as what that reasoning for my absence was though, I've got no problem sharing. Would've liked this guise to hold a lil' longer, but guess that can't really be helped." Camila shrugged. "While I am an old friend of the Captain, I never held a position of power; quite the opposite, in fact. I sort of... left Soul Society. Trying to come back now, though. Made a few mistakes, handled things incorrectly, you know how it is. Name's actually Camila, too." She chuckled again, and gave the girl a smile. "Sorry about that."

Continuing on with the conversation, Camila held that same smile as Wynne spoke. "Lord, I genuinely wish there were more here like yourself. You, uh, don't see too many people with as focused a mindset on something as noble as yourself. It's genuinely pretty heartwarming to hear. Talent in Kido, though; that much is certainly interesting to hear. Especially with you following alongside Celes; I'm guessing she's still not much into magic?" She chucked, and pushed herself off of the bed. Having felt like she was sitting around too much for her own comfort, Camila immediately went into straightening out the sheets, and making sure everything looked presentable.

As Wynne continued, Camila looked down at the mention of the bed. "Yeah, that was absolutely my bad. I'm definitely down to train with you if you're willing to allow me to make that up to ya. You said you're fond of Kido, yeah? I'd like to think I'm pretty okay at it, if I can be of help with that I'd love to help you pick up a thing or two!" She smiled to the girl. "Oh! And don't worry about feeling like the weakest; everyone's got their own strengths, no matter who they are. I'd ramble on with a super generic speech about 'everyone being unique' and 'nobody's actually weak' but I doubt that'd help. If it would help, though, I'm definitely interested in taking you up on that offer to train!"

[Wynne Kuchiki]

“Ah, you’re not actually called Riegan then huh.”

Feeling the small smile on her face vanish, Wynne stared intensely at Camila. Her first meeting with a new potential friend, and it was all going downhill. Trustworthiness was something she valued highly and the fact that Camila lied to her almost immediately stood out to her. Should she be offended? Camila did have a reason to lie if she did in fact leave Soul Society. Yet even with this reasoning, why did her heart ache? Was Camila like the rest of the students at the academy, only talking with her to gain something? Just to abandon her in the end? 

“I’ll be sure to cherish those close to me once I find them.”

Watching Camila turn away, Wynne tried to hide the betrayal she felt. Judging from her voice crack towards the end, she had failed at that goal. Could she be blamed though? All she wanted was a friend, one she could trust. One that wouldn’t lie to her. Ignoring the way her eyes stung with unshed tears, Wynne tried to keep up an unfazed front. If everyone she met lied to her and eventually abandoned her, then there was only one common denominator. And it was her.

“Yeah, there’s not many people like me. I don’t know Celes too well myself but from what I’ve seen, she’s more of a close up type of woman.”

Tightening her hands until her knuckles turned white, Wynne tried to remember her training. A Kuchiki was not allowed to show strong emotions in public. It wasn’t befitting of someone with her lineage. And if she actually had a breakdown and word got out, her parents might actually disown her. She wouldn’t put it past them. She couldn’t blame them either. They didn’t ask for an oversensitive daughter that teared up at a single lie. And she called herself a shinigami. Pathetic. Her ancestors would be ashamed.

“Training would be nice. I’ll have to get back to you on that later.”

Putting fake cheer into her voice Wynne tried to think of something smooth to say to keep the conversation going. Unfortunately for her, her current state of mind was a mess, ending the conversation on an awkward note. Looking everywhere else in the room but at Camila, Wynne wondered what to do. She needed to do something quickly before making a fool of herself. And it didn’t take too long for her to quickly come up with something. She’d just leave! Excuse herself and then cry alone in her room. Just a normal day for her ~

“It was a pleasure to meet you Camila but I’ll be going now.”

Nodding her head towards the woman, Wynne headed to the door only to run head first into the wall with a loud smack. Ignoring the tears that were now definitely running down her face, the crying girl ran out of the room as fast as she could. She didn’t know what was worse, the embarrassment, the pain, or the feeling of wanting to shrivel up and die. Sadly it seemed that her passage to her home was not meant to be, as in her panic to leave Wynne had forgotten that she had recently mopped the floors. She quickly remembered that tidbit as her feet came out from underneath her, slamming her back into the floor painfully and scattering her cleaning supplies. Staring up at the ceiling in a daze and struggling to breathe, Wynne allowed her mind to drift away. She couldn’t do much else.

[Deleted]

“I’ll be sure to cherish those close to me once I find them.” Camila winced as she heard the girl’s voice crack, and immediately turned her attention to Wynne. Within a few short moments, Camila took note of the fact that she didn’t seem to be doing well. She wasn’t making eye contact, looking everywhere else, and being pretty short with her in her responses. She knew those signs, if not only because she was the exact same way. Camila knew she had to have messed up somewhere, and she didn’t have a lot of time to figure out where.

“It was a pleasure to meet you Camila but I’ll be going now.” Watching as the girl left, Camila had very little time to process everything that had just happened. She’d upset someone she was looking to get along with. A Shinigami that actually seemed to enjoy her company. Her chest began to pound. Could she really just let that girl walk out the door? She was doing so right now; hitting her head and all. Letting her be was the right option, right? If she gave chase, what would that mean of her fate? Of all of the time and effort she’d put in to get where she was? Was that something Camila could really just risk?

Within a second of Wynne leaving, she’d made her decision. Camila burst from the door, giving little care as to who would’ve been nearby, and immediately darted her eyes around the hallways she had access to for the girl. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, she hadn’t gone far. Rushing over to the girl that was now on the floor, Camila entered a sort of fight or flight, while carefully making sure she didn’t suffer the same slippery fate as well. ”Wynne, are you all right?!” Looking around and noticing the halls were clear, but still hearing voices nearby, Camila clenched her fists. Standing up as fast as she could, she drew her blade. ”Damn it! Make them Bleed Beuveur de Sang!”

As she finished speaking her shikai command, Camila’s blade melted and dissolved into the floorboards as her Reiatsu exploded outward. Due to her spiritual pressure, anyone within a quarter mile would’ve been able to pick up on it. Crouching back down, Camila gently placed her hands on the girl; one behind her back, and one around the stomach area. From there, she was focused on allowing her own Reiatsu to wash over Wynne, healing any injury she might’ve sustained moments before. ”Gods, this is my fault,” she said, starting to stress out, ”I am so, so sorry for this. I can’t begin to make that clear. If there’s any way at all I could even start to make it up to you, please let me know. I… I didn’t mean for something like this to happen.”

[Wynne Kuchiki]

As Wynne stared up at the ceiling in a daze, she soon felt the pain disappear from her body. Feeling her heart drop for a moment, she wondered if she actually broke her spine from the fall. A loss of pain and feeling sounded like some of the symptoms she had read in a medical book. Closing her eyes, Wynne let out a pitiful sob. Her first week as a shinigami and she had already got severely injured? And from a fall no less? She was about to let out another sob before realizing something. Wait. Something wasn’t right. If she was paralyzed, why could she feel pressure on her back and stomach?

Opening her eyes once more and lifting her head, Wynne stared at the blurry silhouette in front of her. Wiping her eyes to clear her vision, a crouching Camila soon came into view. Letting her head slam back into the ground with a resounding thud, Wynne allowed the recent memories of the day to come back to her. Feeling her cheeks grow hot, the prone girl chose to look at Camila’s hair, rather than her eyes. This was so embarrassing. Probably the most embarrassing moment of her life. And Camila had witnessed it all. It was almost like the girl had seen her naked. And in a way she did. Camila saw her emotions in its rawest state, something she had been trying to hide for so long. So much for the mask she had built to hide her feelings. 

“No, this is all my fault. Sorry for making you help me.”

Speaking softly, Wynne allowed the coolness of the floor to seep through her. Even though she was healed, she didn’t plan on picking herself up from the ground anytime soon. She just didn’t have it in her. Not only did she have a breakdown, but she also made Camila feel bad. It wasn’t even the girl’s fault. No, the blame laid solely upon Wynne’s tiny frail shoulders.

“It’s just….. It’s been a long day. Month. Year. Life. I just want to die.”

Coughing in shock, Wynne sputtered before attempting to fix what she just said. She must’ve hit her head harder than she thought, as she had no intention of saying that. Even if she currently felt that way.

“Er, forget I said that part. I’ve just been dealing with a lot of things and I’m sorry you had to go through this. I should’ve reacted better. It’s probably obvious now why I don’t have friends eh?”

Putting her arm over her eyes, Wynne struggled to come up with more words to say. Thankfully her embarrassment had faded away, but now she felt dead inside. Which in her opinion was slightly better but not by much. Her first potential friend and this whole situation happened. Thankfully the two were alone. If they weren’t, she would actually die. Her heart would just stop beating due to the shame. Just imagining her parents hearing of this brought another bolt of pain through her. And although Camila was healing her, it seemed that emotional pain couldn’t be cured by reiatsu. 

[Deleted]

Once she heard Wynne was doing at the very least, okay, Camila smiled. "Hey," she started, "this is just as much mine as it is yours. N' you didn't make me do anything, Wynne! I wasn't going to let you just suffer in silence though. I uh, know what that's like. It's not something anyone should really have to deal with, y'know? So, with that said, if you ever need to just vent, talk, or anything in between, I'm definitely here for ya!" Letting go of the girl, Camila sat down next to her and crossed her legs. If she wasn't ready to move, then neither was Camila. She wasn't going to let the girl deal with her problems alone if she could help it.

Listening to her next comment, Camila went wide-eyed upon hearing the last sentence. Seeing as Wynne corrected it shortly after, she wasn't too worried, but something like that only further cemented her choice to not let the girl spend too much time on her own. As she continued speaking, Camila gently tapped the girl's shoulder. "Hey, don't say that," she said, almost reprimanding the girl with a joking tone, "you've got a friend sitting right next to you. And, I fully understand what you mean by that. I get how stressful things here can be. That said, I won't pretend to know exactly what you're going through, but I will promise you that you've absolutely got a friend in me. That much isn't going to change any time soon, y'hear?"

Letting out a deep breath, Camila looked around. Thankfully nobody had made their way over yet, as that would've proved to be troublesome for both girls. Giving off a serene smile, Cami turned her attention back to Wynne. "We should probably get out of the middle of the hallway," she chuckled, "I don't think either of us are in a position to want to be seen by others at the moment, yeah?" In truth, Camila had gotten to know a pretty good amount about the noble life thanks to a few of the other Shinigami she's met; namely Kaen. In conjunction with how every noble seemed to be acting constantly, it wasn't hard to assume that she'd face unwanted repercussions for this. Camila was in a similar boat.

Standing up, Camila held her hand down to Wynne. "C'mon, don't make me carry you," she joked. The more she took the time to think about it, the more she quickly pieced together just how similar the two of them were. She couldn't help but see quite a bit of herself in Wynne; so far the 'origin story' was turning out the same. She only hoped that Wynne wasn't going to have to deal with any of the same BS that she did during her time in Soul Society. In that moment, Cami swore to herself to do what she could to almost 'watch over' the girl as best she could. She wasn't going to allow the girl to be backed into a corner if she could do something about it.

[Wynne Kuchiki]

“A friend eh.”

Feeling an enormous smile spread across her face, Wynne allowed the tears to flow freely. It was crazy how just one simple word could change her whole mood around. Even at her worst, Camila was still willing to be her friend. It was an amazing thing. Also somewhat incomprehensible. Why would she do such a thing? Was it because she too understood what she was going through?

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want anyone to interrupt us. But seeing as how we are friends, I wouldn’t mind you carrying me.”

Removing her arm and looking at Camila with a small smile, Wynne took a few moments to take the girl in her entirety. At first glance, she seemed like the usual shinigami, albeit with your own personal differences. But to Wynne, she was something more. She was like a star shining brightly in the night sky. Releasing a warm comforting light onto all those around her. And she was Wynne’s first true friend. Something the girl would never forget. Reaching out and clutching Camila’s arm tightly, Wynne looked into her friend’s bright red eyes that burned like the sun.

“Thank you Camila. If you ever need anything, know that I have your back. Regardless of the consequences.”

Feeling herself getting embarrassed after her little heart to heart confession, Wynne pulled herself up to a sitting position and pointedly looked away. Although the floor was clean, Camila was right. The two should probably move to a better location. Plus she wanted to learn more about her new friend. Just think of the possibilities! They could go out to eat, window shop, or even frolic in the grass. At least that's what friends did in her books. She didn’t have any experience on the matter, but she was looking forward to the future. For the first time in years.

[Deleted]

Seeing Wynne’s smile, Camila couldn’t help but return with both a smile and giggle. She was genuinely glad to see the girl as happy as she was. It left her with a good feeling. One that she absolutely wasn’t going to forget any time soon. The only other person she’d considered to be a true friend was Celes; and even the two of them had ended up at each others’ throats in the past. If all went well, her time with Wynne was going to be different. There was a lot that she’d have to consider regarding all of that, but her hopes were certainly there. She wondered where Wynne’s mind was at.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want anyone to interrupt us. But seeing as how we are friends, I wouldn’t mind you carrying me.” Camila passed the girl a smirk. “Well, if you insist.” With that said, Camila lowered herself to Wynne after she was helped up, and scooped her up by her legs, holding her bridal style. If the girl took notice, Camila’s arms had a slight shake to them; not because Wynne was heavy or anything, but because Camila wasn’t the strongest. She would’ve been stable in Camila’s arms, though, that much was certain.
”Of course,” she said, ”I’ve got your back, that much is certain. I’m incredibly appreciative of your offer, though. I’ll take you up on that, though; I’ll be the first to admit, I know my way pretty well around the Senkaimon. If we can do so without being caught, I’d like to take you to the World of the Living. There’s quite the amount of fun things to be done there that I’ve since realized you can’t really do in Soul Society. So, what do you say? Would you perhaps be down to ‘help’ me have a fun next few hours?”

Regardless of how Wynne responded, Camila still took the girl back to the room they had just resided in. If she agreed, they could take the time to plan things out. If not, then they had the option to stay in there and discuss whatever it was they wanted. So long as they were generally out of sight and away from prying eyes, she was happy. The absolute last thing that Camila wanted either of them to deal with were the social and legal repercussions of either of them being caught with each other. She knew Celes probably had some influence over their safety, but even that was only going to go so far when push came to shove.

[Wynne Kuchiki]

“Eeeppp!” Clutching Camila tightly, Wynne watched in wonder as her friend swept her gracefully off her feet. Staring at the black haired girl with a blush, she tried to calm her racing heart. Why did this feel so scandalous, yet so right at the same time? Since she was brought up as a noble, if someone did this they’d normally be blacklisted and punished. Guess it was a good thing it was just her and Camila then eh? A little guilty pleasure. They would go far together, that she was sure of. She just had to get her emotions in check for the time being. And ignore just how much her friend made her heart race.

“Yes, I’d love to accompany you! I’ve only been to the World of the Living once on a training expedition, so it’ll be nice to see it again.” Releasing her grip slightly on Camila, Wynne allowed her to carry them back to the empty room. As the two stood in the open room, she sadly let herself down from the bridal carry after waiting a few moments. She’d stay in that position forever, but then she’d have to explain to Camila why she wanted to stay in her arms for so long. Something she would be too embarrassed to do.

“Oh! Before I forget!” Running out of the room quickly, Wynne scooped up her cleaning supplies before bringing them back into the room. Closing the door softly and locking it, she turned to Camila with a smile. “This way we won’t be bothered. If anyone comes I’ll tell them I’m cleaning and to come back later.” Sitting down on the bed and patting the area next to her, Wynne motioned for her friend to sit down next to her before speaking.

“You left the Soul Society a while back, right? Would anyone remember your face? If not you can just act like you recently graduated from the academy as well. There’s quite a few new students out and about so you should blend in pretty well. Although if we do that, getting to the World of the Living might be difficult if someone’s guarding it. New academy students aren’t allowed to go off on their own because they’re not that strong, but I’m sure we could convince those on watch. That or just sneak by.”

[Deleted]

Noticing Wynne's now-reddening face, Camila couldn't help but smile. She was glad to have provoked such a reaction from the girl, and grew ever interested in seeing just how far she could go with that. Though, first and foremost, boundary respect was a necessity. She wasn't going to press the girl any further than she had for the time being. She wasn't about to allow herself to cross a line she couldn't exactly come back from. Having made a friend was great; she wasn't going to lose that if she could help it. As she walked back to the room the two had been staying at, Camila maintained the same dumb smile she'd held since picking the girl up. "Well, I'm glad to hear it! Trust me; we'll definitely have some fun. There's quite a bit that I'd definitely like to show you!"

Camila gave no resistance as Wynne allowed herself to be put down, and simply watched as she left the room. Cami took the time to think on things while Wynne was gone. Predominantly, everything that had pressed her to this point. She couldn't help but wonder how differently things would've went if her time in Soul Society had gone as Wynne's had so far; if she'd had someone she could count on. While Celes was certainly her friend, the now-Captain was tied down to her rank first and foremost. That much had been made clear after Camila had left, and with the events that had followed. Wynne was different, though. She seemed willing to do what she wanted; a mindset Camila very much respected.

As Wynne returned, and subsequently locked the door, Camila couldn't help but watch in shock; even more so as the girl turned to her with a smile.  “This way we won’t be bothered. If anyone comes I’ll tell them I’m cleaning and to come back later.” Welp, Camila genuinely thought she had relative control over the situation, but seemed to be proven quite inaccurate. A slight blush rose to her face as she seemed to make an assumption that was likely far from Wynne's intentions. Not able to really speak, Camila watched as the Shinigami sat down on the bed, and patted for her to sit next to her. Following in suit, Camila briskly walked over, and sat down next to the girl, balling up her hands and placing them on her knees.

As the girl spoke, Camila's face quickly transitioned to a deep shade of red, immediately realizing how horribly inaccurate she had played the situation off to be. Thus was the life of the shut-in girl without any sort of human contact, as Camila was. "About a year ago, yeah," she said, turning to Wynne, "I'd like to think I probably won't be remembered, but it's genuinely hard to say. I know there's a few people I left a... less than reasonable impression on when last we met, so we'd definitely have to be careful. Namely around the Squad 13 barracks. Which, unfortunately, is exactly where we're going to have to get to in order to get to the Senkaimon. I can easily get that set up all things considered, and getting through should be relatively easy for you. I'll likely be traversing through the Dangai, so I might need a few moments after you exit in order to meet up with you."

Camila put her hand to her chin as she began to ponder what course of action the two should take. "Regarding actually getting there, though... That's likely not going to be too hard. I'd think actually getting out and subsequently back into the barracks of Squad 10 and 13 respectively are going to be the most difficult parts, and even that wasn't too difficult. From there we should be okay to just walk around without any worry. From what I was informed about traitors, Gotei tries to keep those as wrapped up as possible. Doesn't exactly look good when someone actively opposes Soul Society like that, y'know? I think it's safe to say that only higher-ups are likely to know who I am; namely Captains and Vice Captains. Hell, even a simple disguise should pretty much do the trick in that regard!"

[Wynne Kuchiki]

Watching Camila’s face turn red, Wynne looked at her friend curiously. Was she embarrassed at having to talk about her past? If she was, she’d have to make sure not to question her too much on it. She’d hate to make her new friend uncomfortable. Twisting her head to look at Camila, Wynne listened quietly as she spoke her piece. Doing all of this was quite risky, and assuming everything Camila said was true, this might actually be a crime. Good thing Wynne didn’t care. She knew from the moment she became a shinigami that if she had to follow her heart or follow the law, she’d choose the former. Although she hadn’t expected to be forced to make such a choice so soon.

“The Dangai? Is traversing through that safe? What’s wrong with you going through the Senkaimon with me?” From what she knew, going through the Dangai or anywhere near it was dangerous. She didn’t know why but it seemed like a risky venture and she’d hate if Camila got injured because of it. But knowing her friend there was probably a reason she chose to go through there to begin with. She highly doubted Camila was just doing it for fun.

“As long as no one recognizes you, I can use my Kuchiki name to get past them if they choose to cause us any problems. For Squad 13 at least. Technically I can do it for Squad 10 as well, but then things would be awkward seeing as how I’m in that squad. And it would probably cause more questions to be asked about our situation, so it might not be worth it. Although my squad is pretty lax, so we shouldn’t have any problems with them to begin with.”

Holding her hands together, Wynne let out a small breath. All this planning was making her a little nervous. It was less about her and more about Camila. Thanks to her being nobility, she doubted she’d get too severe of a punishment. Unfortunately for her friend, she didn’t have the same protection. Plus if someone tried to accost her, it wasn’t like Wynne would just sit by and watch. Which would cause even more complications. What she was most afraid of was Camila either getting captured or her being forced to flee and Wynne never seeing her friend again. And to prevent that, they had to try their best to make a foolproof plan. Failure wasn’t an option.

[Deleted]

Upon being questioned about the Dangai, Camila chuckled. “I should be okay,” she started, “the Dangai’s how I got here to begin with. Being a member of Squad 13, especially one that’s free to do what they please while the captain wasn’t around, definitely had its perks. I’d like to think I know it pretty well, so I’m honestly not too concerned. You’ve got a Hell Butterfly, though, yeah? Thankfully you’ll be okay; I don’t want to even think about what might happen if you had to come through there with me.” Camila shuddered. She’d seen a few people lose their lives through the Dangai; namely squad mates. That wasn’t a fate she wished on anyone.

At the mention of Wynne using her nobility to get what she wanted, Camila couldn’t help but smile. Though, with that said, she let the girl finish speaking before she decided to interject. “Look at you, using your name as a power-play, I love that!” She gently bumped the girl’s shoulder, and continued. “While that’s definitely a good plan, I’d like to think a criminal with a… little bit of an uncomfortable body count would have some level of recognition to ‘er, y’know? A disguise might be necessary. That said, do you know if I could find some hair dye in the Rukon? I’ve never actually looked. Worst case, I’ll check in with Celes in order to see if she could grab some to make this trip easier. Lord only knows that even with her help, I won’t be able to just walk through the front gates.” She chuckled.

In truth, Camila’s thoughts were very much the same as Wynne’s own. If they were going to do something like this, it needed to be done right. Anything else could lead to imprisonment and possibly even execution for not only Camila, but Wynne too. That was the last thing she wanted for the girl; especially someone so new to Soul Society. “One thing I’d like to preface, though; something like this is going to be dangerous. Well, dangerous, likely illegal, and likely met with quite a bit of resistance. If this doesn’t go flawlessly, you may very well end up in the same boat as me; a fugitive under Soul
Society’s standards. That’s not something I want to just subject you to. At least, not yet. So, the risks are known; is this still something you’re on board with doing? Would you be willing to risk losing as much as you would for this?”

While her intention wasn’t to scare the girl, she wanted to make sure that Wynne knew exactly what was going to be risked if she went through with something like this. If this didn’t go well, Camila had thought the chances of someone catching the two together were likely going to be pretty high. That was likely to result in some sort of correlation between the two of them, making Wynne guilty of aiding a traitor. She didn’t want to force about a risk like that, and wasn’t going to do so either. She turned to look to Wynne, her own scarlet eyes staring into the girl’s own orange. “I’m not going to force you to make a decision like this. I wouldn’t dream of it. Just know, that even if worse comes to worst, I’ve a place for you in case something goes wrong. Even if you’re exiled, you won’t be without a home, if that’s a concern. If you’re not ready to make a decision like that, though, then we should be able to find a way to make this work properly to meet with each other, as infrequent as that might end up being.”