Say it Ain't So (Luca and Kaen JT)

[Akira Hinosai]

Pen? Check. Paper? Check. Map of the city? Check. All Luca needed was a cork-board, some yarn, and tacks, then he'd be ready to go. He could probably appropriate a cork-board from somewhere in the office. Same for the tacks. The yarn, however, that would be tricky. He'd deal with that later though. He looked between the map of the city and his smart-watch. He marked places hollows were forming and places they seemed to congregate. He tried to figure out where they hunted, where they rested. Hollows weren't animals, but their behavior could be predicted just as well if you knew what to look for. They were hungry, desperate and impulsive. They needed souls to sustain them and they needed places to hide when they needed to lick their wounds or rest up after a hunt.

Of course, every hollow was different, but they all tended to conform to the "hunger, desperation, and impulse" trifecta. Some were desperately hungry, some were hungrily impulsive. Some were all three concurrently or consecutively. However, there wasn't a hollow Luca had seen that was just desperate and impulsive. They all hungered. Souls, people, other hollows, it didn't matter. It was that hunger that made them dangerous, but for Luca it was a unique opportunity. He wasn't interested in hollows, but if he wanted to find a certain person of interest, hollows would be essential. In Karakura, hotspots of hollow activity tended to draw shinigami. They were slow and undermanned but hollows were their main target here. Find one, find the other.

There was a shinigami-captain level presence in Karakura. Luca had sensed it. Though their aura was far from subtle, Luca was unable to track them down when he first sensed them, not without causing another misunderstanding or drawing too much unwanted attention. Normally, Luca wouldn't care. He'd flex his reiatsu like a beacon so the captain would notice, consequences be damned. The current situation however was not normal. Besides the inner hollow starting to recover, the Vandenreich were coming for him, and maybe all of UE as well. He didn't know when, exactly. That would depend on how long it took them to declare Aia missing, and how long before their investigation tied Luca to the crime scene. That was assuming they didn't already know. With so many unknowns, Luca had to play his cards carefully.

I've got a vandenreich captain as my hostage. Not to mention I cut her fucking arm off. I doubt the Super Third Reich is going to be down for a nuanced discussion on how I acted in self defense. It wasn't that Luca was scared, he was just being pragmatic. Honestly, it's the least of my problems right now. The "Most Pressing Concern Award" would go to the inner hollow. It was growing more active by the day. It "spoke" to him, it appeared in dreams. It wasn't with the level of ease as before, but it was certainly trying. Whatever Ken'ichi did, it was recovering from. Still it wasn't like it was debilitating. Luca was willful enough to keep it at bay for now.

Luca ran his red pen across the map, the wet ink smearing everso slightly was he used his finger discern where probable hollow refuges were based on access to food, possible cover and camouflage. By the end of it, Luca had settled with three likely hollow hotspots a captain-level shinigami might go. Of course, that was assuming the captain level presence, if they were staying here for an extended period, saw fit to clear out hollow nests. Probably. Luca thought. Content with his annotated map, Luca stood up, only then remembering the office supplies he'd splayed over the table. "Oh yeah. Forgot about that." As it happened, his study was far less resource intensive than he'd initially thought. I didn't even need to cork-board! Awww, I wanted to make one of those kickass things with pictures and red string connecting them and shit!

Well, maybe another time. Whenever the urge hits me again, I guess. Luca picked up his map, and left his mess on the empty conference room table he commandeered for his purpose. He affixed his reiatsu scrambler on his arm. It was set to alter his reiatsu so it would seem like a normal fullbringer's. That alone made him confident he could evade any Quincy looking for retribution. The sun was setting, and it would probably be nightfall by the time Luca found the captain level presence, so he settled on an outfit consisting of a black leather jacket, black croptop and torn black jeans and hiking boots. Considering the cobbled together nature of his fashion, it did look pretty good. It was like he was some dark prince straight out of a fantasy novel. Not that he'd admit that to anyone. He was just being practical. It was night time camo!

The first suspected hollow nest was around the cold clear river that ran through part of Karakura. Unless Luca happened upon any captain level presences before reaching there, he'd continue there, until finally taking off the reiatsu scrambler and flexing his reiatsu before quickly putting it back on. Luca found a hiding place behind a large rock and waited, silencing his reiatsu. If the captain wasn't drawn by a hotspot of hollow activity, maybe they would be by a brief flash of a very powerful hollow...

[Kaen Youji]

Luca wouldn't have to wait long. A tremendous crash filled the night air as a colossal black shape crashed beside the rock, digging a long trench into the earth. "Oh come on, I'm supposed to be on break!" Kaen snapped at the massive, wyvern-like Hollow that he had just sent slamming down to earth. The creature was massive, nearly four meters in length, but Luca would be able to tell at a glance the creature had been fatally injured; a literal dent smashed through its chest. The Hollow croaked weakly as it tried to stumble up in-spite of itself.

Not that Kaen had time to address it, as two other Hollows were assailing the Vice Captain; a gnarled treant like one and a scorpion Hollow, that lashed at Kaen with a huge stinger. Their Shinigami adversary, however, caught the stinger with one hand, while blocking a sweep of the Treant's talon with the other, a blow so forceful that a shockwave emanated from it, blowing over Luca's hiding place! Still... despite the force of the blow, Kaen was unmoved by the strike, and with a movement so swift it couldn't be tracked, both Treant and scorpion were blasted aside, a hole punched neatly through both of their heads, already dissolving into reishi.

The Wyvern Hollow found its footing again and with an anguished cry, a Cero began to form in its jaws, aimed at Kaen. Kaen looked over in its direction. "Ah." He commented somberly. "You were a bit tougher than the other two it looks like." He noted. "Sorry... I didn't mean to make you suffer." The Cero fired. Kaen lunged directly towards the Cero, his short sword Zanpakuto flashing into his hand. In a single motion he cut through the Cero dispersing it. In a second motion he was behind the Hollow which paused for a moment, before it was neatly split in two, crumbling into reishi before it even hit the ground. "Return to the Soul cycle... and be at peace." Kaen intoned to it, as he sheathed his blade.

Kaen then sighed. "Talk about a waste of a vacation though... It feels like all I've been doing is work anyways...." He sighed. "What a pain..." He murmured, running a hand through his messy hair. "A renegade... XCution, and having to stop at least two Hollow attacks... Gonna have to make some complaints when I get back... We're getting sloppy out here." Kaen hadn't seemed to have noticed Luca just yet, due to the man being both hidden and silencing his reiatsu... along with Kaen's own reiatsu detection and sensory abilities being less than top tier. That being said, his instincts, at least were keen and he paused for a moment, looking around.

"Hmm... You can come out now." He spoke to the night. "If you want to talk, I'd much prefer that to picking another fight tonight." He stated. "If you want to be all mysterious and spooky and not come out, like... fair enough, but just saying, if you've got something to say, I'm here and I can feel you watching me."

[Akira Hinosai]

Luca placed a hand to his mouth to stifle a scream. He'd expected to observe a fight, not get caught up in it! He could feel the impact in his bones as force rippled through the ground. Definitely a little too close for comfort. Had he not been crouched down, Luca definitely would have been knocked down. A familiar voice chided the dying hollow. No, it couldn't be... KAEN?!?!? Was he really the captain level presence Luca was investigating? He wasn't even a captain! Luca had no time to think about his mistake before Kaen returned to the fight. Two more hollows, maybe cohorts of the one he'd maimed, were upon him.

Kaen made fighting look effortless. Luca watched, mesmerized. He wasn't usually the type to stare in awe at the achievements of others, but this...He wasn't even using a sword and he was still untouchable. Luca's observation was cut short when another shockwave blew away the rock Luca had used for cover. He had only barely managed to do a ninja-roll out of the way and into the grass before impact. Luca stared with large, nervous eyes at Kaen. Oh fuck, did he see me? Luca backed away on all fours, not daring to stand up. He wasn't scared of being hurt. Not by the battle, and certainly not by Kaen.

Still, Luca didn't want to reveal himself too soon. If this was Kaen, that presented it's own share of problems. Namely, Luca had to explain why he was tracking down captain level presences in a way that didn't implicate him as some kind of weirdo. What if he doesn't believe the real story? What's something more convincing... Kaen and Luca parted on good terms, or as best of terms one could under the circumstances. Still, the captain-level presence being someone Luca knew made this harder in some ways. Right as Luca finished the line of thought,Kaen finished the last hollow with a strange sort of kindness Luca didn't often see.

Luca rose to his feet, his lanky body unfurling into something resembling normal human posture. "Bravo, you caught me...again." Luca groaned. "You can relax, I'm not here to pick a fight. As fun as the soul society was, I'd rather not get sent back so soon." Luca smiled as he walked closer to Kaen. "So, how have you been? You mentioned a vacation. Funny, I didn't know shinigami got those. I'm a little offended you were in town and you didn't even TRY to look me up!" Luca rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to look at ease. "So come on, fill me in on those details! What have you been up to since...you know..." Luca was reluctant to mention the circumstances of their last meeting. Kaen may notice, despite all the things Luca said, he said nothing about why he was hiding behind a rock watching Kaen take down hollows.

[Kaen Youji]

"Ohhh! Hey! That's right from that whole fiasco at the gate! I'm glad you made it out of Squad 12 in one piece!" He chirped, cheerfully. "Well good news is that this is by far the least awkward meeting I've had since I came out here." Cami had been an admittedly awkward talk, regardless of how it had turned out. Given her status in the Soul Society at any rate. "But yeah. Yeah, we get vacation time. We're kind of a lot like how your human world militaries work like that. We don't have to do it every day and I figured hey, I could take some time in the human world. But it's just been one thing after another out here, and it feels like I'm working anyways." He replied. "Besides, on vacation or not, I can't exactly... you know... ignore someone who's in trouble. Guess the next time I take a vacation I need to go somewhere that isn't the middle of a spiritual warzone.... I dunno.... like Fiji? That's a common Human vacation hotspot right?" He inquired.

Luca inquired and Kaen shrugged a bit. "Ehh.... Some stuff I probably shouldn't be talking about with just anyone... But you know.... stuff. Soul Society stuff. ...Actually that's a partial lie, I took a promotion, and then went on vacation like... a month after. I don't really think I deserve the promotion but well... I'm the Vice Captain of Soul Society's Seventh Division. This position is... important to me. Same for the Captain of the Division. I can't just let anyone be put into those positions. So... I'm going to protect the Vice Captain position and use that to protect the Captain position of the squad. Truth be told, I probably should do it the other way around but just... hrm.... How to say it... Becoming Captain of the Seventh Division is a big deal. When I joined the Gotei 13, the Captain of Squad 7 was the most powerful Shinigami in Soul Society. And the Vice Captain of the Seventh was the most powerful Vice Captain in Soul Society... For me anyways... for anything short of that to be the case, it feels like the division is taking a step backwards, you know? I'm basically the de-facto leader of the division. I want it to be as great as it was when I joined. And I... don't think I can carry that mantle yet. But I also want to protect it from anyone who's not ready to wear that mantle. It's... it's complicated. He conceded.

"But yeah, anyways on my vacation? Hitting up tons of great food places in the Human World! Just sight seeing really. Made a new friend or two. Didn't expect to run into anyone really-- I'll be honest I steered clear of Uzaki Enterprises because I didn't want to get caught up in work stuff and darn it, you guys would be hard to ignore a request for help from. Plus the Captain Commander's been a bit huffy about that whole thing. Or so I'm told. What about you? What have you been up to?"

[Akira Hinosai]

For a single, terrible moment, Luca thought Kaen might not remember him. Forget stalking accusations, that would be really embarrassing. Fortunately, Kaen did remember him as the mastermind of "that whole fiasco at the gate". Luca seemed to remember it being a little more intense than that. He crossed untold swathes of enemy territory, from the ass end of the rukongai to the north gate. Maybe squad 12 was onto him from the start. Maybe the shinigami he sought to evade caught him in an ambush. In the end that sort of worked out in the end. He met Ken'ichi and Kaen. He still thought about the whole thing a lot. He would have corrected Kaen, insisting it was so much more than a skirmish at some stupid gate. Instead, Luca let it slide...just this once. He was happy to see Kaen in his own Luca-esque sort of way. It would suck to ruin the meeting over a perceived slight.

Besides, this was Kaen's least awkward meeting. Luca was keen on keeping that title. Kaen continued, explaining how the shinigami handled vacations and why his was so shit. Then came the stuff. The personal stuff. For so long, Kaen had been an idea more than he was a person. Him confessing his problems seemed weird. It was easy to forget how little time they actually spent together. How long had it been after Luca's capture that he ran off with Ken'ichi? Luca couldn't be sure. When one focused on a memory long enough, time got weird. It definitely wasn't for very long, though. Not enough for Luca to say he knew Kaen. Still, there were feelings associated with the name and face. Kaen was with Ken'ichi when Luca was captured. Like Ken'ichi, he listened to Luca's reasons for doing what he did. Like Ken'ichi, he seemed to care in the sort of way Luca didn't expect.

All of it was complicated, both the feelings Luca had and the words Kaen was saying. Fucking hell, I better not be going soft! Kaen spoke of shinigami problems Luca had a hard time relating to. Still, it was weird to see Kaen doubt himself. He was strong enough to be a captain, so what was the problem? The idea of talking up Kaen so he'd accept the position felt wrong. Even if Luca owed him one. Why should I care if he's a captain? It's not like there's much in it for me...  Besides, Luca may have respected Kaen. At least, insofar as he was capable of respecting anyone, but Kaen was still a rival. Kaen had been his enemy. Maybe things had changed, but Luca still wanted to surpass him. The idea of complimenting someone he wanted to overcome made him feel weak and pathetic.

Finally the conversation drifted back to Luca. "I fought some vandenreich captains...I trained my reitasu shaping skills...and that's it. I haven't done anything else." Luca thought it best to not mention he met a shinigami fugitive and stabbed Raph. The lack of interesting happenings was making Luca look bad. After a brief pause, he tried to say more. "That's the problem with the world of the living. It gets boring after a while. Eventually most hollows are so easy they're just boring to fight, but I guess I don't have to tell you that." Luca said, nodding at the small crater where one of the hollows had died. He eyed Kaen, trying to gauge his response. "Before you go all guidance councilor on me, I'm not gonna try and sneak into the soul society again. I would never repeat myself so soon! If I do go back it'll be because I'm invited."

Desperate as he was to pad out his list of acomplishments, Luca avoided mentioning what exactly happened at squad 12. He figured it was best if Kaen didn't know. Sure, he wasn't the type to kill Luca on sight for having an inner hollow...But Luca didn't want to get Ken'ichi in trouble. Luca owed him that much. Luca had a lot of things he didn't tell Kaen. Not here, at least. "But hey, it's all good now. Now that I'm here your vacation won't be so shit and I'll get some source of entertainment!" Luca punctuated his statement with a clap. "So, uh...What do you do for fun, exactly?"

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen's eyebrow spiked up at Luca's initial statement. "You fought a Vandenreich." He blurted out in obvious surprise. He's either very lucky, more elusive than I gave him credit for, or he's gotten much stronger than the last time I met him... Kaen thought. "H-how did that go? What happened that you ran into a Vandenreich!? What were their abilities like? What was his name?" Kaen asked, firing off some rapidfire questions at Luca, clearly invested in Luca's throwaway comment. It was probably a larger response than Luca was expecting, but Vandenreich were a major threat to Soul Society right now. Any information about their activities would be invaluable. Especially if Luca had somehow managed to defeat one.

And besides.... "Also, I object to that statement. World of the living isn't boring. How can it be boring!? You guys got TV, electricity, airplanes, those flashy little lights at every street intersection, hamburgers which I found out are the most amazing things ever like... just a month ago, dogs, cats, videos of cats on the internet.... How does it ever get boring for you?" He asked Luca. "I mean sure fight-wise maybe a little, but there's more to life than fighting. After two centuries, fighting's still fun, of course, but I'd hate for it to be the only thing in my life. He responded. And as for what Kaen did for fun....

"Well, back home... I would train, go home and take my hawk out and let him fly around, mess around in the Rukongai when Mom and Dad won't find out, since they'd kill me for doing so, I'd go and bother the Empress or see what she wanted to do, hang out with my other friends, or....[/color] Kaen sighed. "...More likely get dragged off by my parents to some big fancy to-do, trying to further family interests, find me a suitable... well. Suitable person to be a suitor for..." Kaen made a disappointed face at that. "...Or otherwise try to ingratiate me into the "right" company, as mom puts it. And as dad started putting it in the last century... Retirement really seems to have changed him. Either that or the missing arm. Maybe it's the arm. I blame the arm." Kaen finished. "So.... I don't actually take vacations a lot and when I do I come here, to chill in the Human World and learn all about you guys! Cause like.... Damn, there's so much that's happened here in the last hundred years, it's like... crazy. First time I came to the Human World, I was hearing something about some short French guy conquering most of Europe with big blackpowder cannons." Kaen shrugged. "You disappear back to Soul Society for a century, come back and boom! Everything's different, and suddenly there's this thing called the "telephone"." Kaen replied. "Which I mean, Soul Society got those too, but way after you guys did."

Kaen finally took a breath from talking. "So yeah, basically my schedule's wide open, what are you up for Luca?" [/font][/font]

[Akira Hinosai]

"H-how did that go? What happened that you ran into a Vandenreich!? What were their abilities like? What was his name?

Luca let the praise wash over him. It felt good to be recognized by someone not looking to kill him for a change. "Oh, it was nothing special." Luca's tone indicated it was actually very special. "So I'm out on the town minding my own business...contributing to the public art on display in Karakura. Then, this gothic chick shows up out of nowhere and starts asking me my name and position...like I'm some junior soldier or something. Of course, I didn't get much of a chance to talk before arrows started flying. I can tell you after having fought her that her release was weird. Creepy as shit, but not much trouble for me. She preferred to use a weird ass sword too." Luca shrugged. As proud as he was to share the story of his victory, there was a slight problem he hoped Kaen wouldn't notice.

She had chosen to attack Luca for a reason. His inner hollow made his reiatsu reek as if he were an arrancar. Fortunately, the vandenreich were evil bastards. Really that was all he needed to know. "There was another one too, bastard interrupted my hike. He had this...sun power or something. He said he was a captain, but he was probably lying. He went down way too easy." Though that wasn't true either, Luca had just held his brother hostage to force him to surrender. Still, not like Kaen needed to know the specifics.

"After two centuries, fighting's still fun, of course, but I'd hate for it to be the only thing in my life"

"Look, don't get the wrong idea. Fighting isn't the only thing in my life." Luca lived for the thrill of combat. It was a high like none other, but still, he didn't want Kaen to see him as some bloodthirsty idiot. He had hobbies! "All I'm saying is it loses its charm when you live here for 20 years. I'm not the kind of guy who can stay tied down for too long! I need something to get the blood pumping, you know? Adventure, exploring new shit! That really sucks because I've been in a dry spell ever since Ken'ichi and I went our separate ways. I'm sure we'll meet again soon and all, but now I just have to wait..."

...

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on a minute...YOU'RE A NOBLE?!?!? YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT!" shock and awe were apparent on Luca's face. "I mean like...you're not...noble-ish looking at all." Luca said gesturing to Kaen's...everything. Luca realized quickly his words weren't really getting across his intended meaning.  "I mean, you look like a guy. What I'm trying to say is you look like a person. You know, like a person who isn't a noble." There. Nailed it.

"How come every shinigami I know is from a noble house? Granted I only really know two, but it's weird they're both nobles." Luca was more or less calming down from the initial surprise. "Oh about all that other stuff, consider yourself fortunate to have met me. Seeing as how I've got nothing better to do, consider me your midnight guide to this backwater slice of Tokyo! So, have you eaten yet? Because I know this super cool ramen place. If you're not hungry, then I know this super cool arcade. You know what an arcade is, right? If neither of those sound particularly interesting...We could do some sparring. I mean I'm not some fighting robot without other personality traits... Just figured you might like to see how much stronger I've gotten since you found me at the gate."

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen took in what Luca was saying, looking relatively serious about the whole affair. "Creepy and weird huh? How so? Weird puppet powers or something?" He asked. This was information that could legitimately save Shinigami lives, if they ever crossed paths. Weird-ass sword too huh? So at least one higher ranking member of the Vandenreich is a sword-wielder... Truthfully, Kaen hadn't encountered the Vandenreich himself since Emerich. That.... Shudder. That had been a harrowing experience, and Kaen found himself unconsciously reaching over his back where Hachiryuu normally would have been-- but of course, in his gigai, was not. "I'm still here boy." "Yeah, I know. Force of habit." Kaen was one of the Shinigami unfortunate enough to have experienced having his Bankai stolen. It had not been a pleasant experience. Luca further went on to mention another Vandenreich with sun powers.

"Given it's the Vandenreich, I presume they were too high up on their horse to actually give any names to "mere mortals" like yourself?" Kaen asked, emphasizing the air quotes with his fingers.

Luca further defended himself and Kaen shrugged. "I mean I guess I can get behind that. To me it's all crazy, new and exciting. It's a whole new world that I only get to see through the window, and through stories most of the time, but it's totally different when you can get through that window and actually experience it. It's still amazing and fantastical to me."

Aaaand then the penny dropped, and Kaen sighed, and pointed at Luca as he reacted. "See that? That there? That's why I don't tell people I'm a noble. I drop that line and suddenly, I stop being Kaen, and I'm suddenly Kaen, heir and successor to the Youji family name or some shit like that. I don't like it. What you see is what you get. I am a person. Every noble out there is a person. Far too many of them forget that." He replied, almost bitterly. "They make it all about your bloodlines and your ancestry, like it actually matters. It doesn't. I've met Shinigami with not a drop of noble blood in them, that are a hundred times more regal and deserving of the title "nobility" than many of the people Soul Society actually recognizes as noble. Besides, my family is one of the smaller noble houses, if you were looking at the big-name Noble houses, that'd have been Ken'ichi. He's from one of the Four Great Noble Houses of the Seireitei, the Shihoin house." Kaen paused to consider Luca's follow-up for a moment.

"It's not... that unusual. As much as I disdain the noble attitude, I'd be blatantly lying if nobility wasn't afforded certain advantages that allow them to flourish in the Gotei 13. I'd say a good chunk of the Gotei is made up of nobility, or someone who was adopted by a Noble House, or at least tangentially related to one." He conceded.

"Anyways, enough about that BS, if you want to show me the sights, I'm game! I wasn't expecting to run into someone I actually knew. I rarely run into the same people twice in the Human World. If you want to show off how much you've improved, those Hollows warmed me up a bit, and I'll admit I'm a bit curious about the strength of someone who fought a Vandenreich Captain. If you want to show me places you know, I'm game. 'Sides, Human World food is delicious. Like I said, I'm good for about anything, ball's in your court tonight Luca." He replied cheerfully.

[Akira Hinosai]

Wait, stop! Stop, you idiot, this isn't a fucking social call! Luca realized a little too late that he was veering wildly off topic. Out of all the shinigami he could have found, somehow it was Kaen. He was still caught off guard, and finding out he was a noble didn't help. All of it served to complicate what was supposed to be a simple negotiation. He'll be more receptive than anyone, it just gets harder on a personal level... "Actually, you know what? I do know a place that's about as "human-world-esque" as you can get. It's pretty underground, but since I'm with you, we should have no trouble getting in. So, ready to follow your midnight guide to this strange little slice of Tokyo?"

Luca flourished his question by gesturing towards himself with an open hand. The whole thing was a little awkward and forced, but it was serviceable. Having remembered his real purpose out here, acting carefree was difficult. He tried not to let the current situation get to him. He'd formulated plan after plan, but thinking about it made him sick. Still, for now, he had to get Kaen somewhere secure, then they could talk. Luca ran up from the river and to the street. "So, how's Ken'ichi been?" Luca would ask after a bit of walking. He knew it was a long shot. As big as the seireitei was, it was stupid to assume two lieutenants from squads as different as 7 and 12 knew each other all too well.

Beyond a few strange detours through alleyways, the journey to "the party capital of the world" would prove uneventful. Kaen might notice Luca's deliberate attempts to mask his spiritual presence entirely, or the few not-so-subtle glances over his shoulder. After passing by pedestrian shops, dull houses, and drab office buildings, finally they reached it. It was an alcove of electricity in a city which had mostly gone to sleep. Faint music could be heard, and power lines seemed to intersect from above like spider webs. Neon signs flashed above shops and restaurants, and party-goers and night owls flocked in and around the buildings.

Luca finally stopped in front of a barren looking book store. "Alright, this is it." if Kaen expressed doubt in Luca's declaration, he would take great pleasure in walking to the back of the store, and dramatically opening a steel door. Kaen would see that where a back room might have been, was instead a white concrete stairwell leading downwards. "After you."

Down the dark stairway, there was another door, a faint LED sign reading: NO EXIT. Behind this door was a barrage of all the sights, sounds, and smells modernity had to offer.

Lights flashed in red and blue and all the shades between. An array of wastrels danced their cares away in the middle of the room, while on the edge of the room, people from all walks of life sat at wooden chairs at wooden tables, each having a strange seal burned into them. Luca would lead Kaen to the table farthest away from the crowd, walking past a few teenagers arguing over a fore-arm based computer, and a gothic woman taking a long drag from her ornate pipe.

"You mind holding this spot for us? I'll get us something at the bar."


Luca would come back with two tall glasses of a dark liquid, appearing black in the light of the room, placing one in front of Kaen and taking the other with him as he took a seat opposite him.

"This place is a gimmick club. They're all over japan. This one's special though, because instead of servers being dressed as vampires or butlers, the whole place is a hangout for those seeking to look beyond the veil of normalcy. In other words, it's cyber-occult themed. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't recognize these people as fullbringers. They're so weak, I doubt they could do more than unfurl a paperclip with their reiatsu. Most of them have some idea that something strange is going on with this town, but they don't have the power to interact with it. They go off anecdotes and proposed ghost sightings to substantiate their claims. Of course, being base humans, they tend to use...unique methods to connect to the spirit world. Either through specific computer software to detect anomalies...or through drugs.

Of course, it's all bullshit. They wildly misinterpret what little they find, and no one outside this room takes them seriously."

"But that isn't why I brought you here." Luca took a sip of his drink. If Kaen did as well, he would find it subtle and refreshing, without any strong alcohol flavors. It tasted floral, but unlike any fruit Kaen might ever have tasted.

"This place is very private. The acoustics are weird, most people are high or busy focused on their own business to notice us, so we can speak openly. More so than outside. This place is clear of spies and bugs. Considering what I'm about to tell you, that's very important."

There was no turning back now. Luca didn't want to go this way, but he had to do everything in his power to make Kaen accept the deal. From what he knew about Kaen, there was one way to do that.

"I...uh..." Luca stared down at the table. He felt like a kid trying to tell his dad he failed a test. At least, he figured that's what it would have felt like. Luca's father never really bothered with that sort of thing. He hated appearing this weak in front of Kaen. "Look, before I go any further, I want you to know I'm not looking for your sympathy. I'm not the sort of guy who goes bothering other people with his problems, you know. I just...I just got myself into some trouble, like really bad trouble. As in, I did something that, if tied to me, is going to be very VERY bad for me and probably everyone associated with me. I don't know when this group will figure out what happened, or that I was the one behind it... I even don't know what I'm going to do when shit hits the fan.

Back at the gate, when I was a foreign invader, you could have killed me or imprisoned me...You had every right to, but instead you were good to me You actually listened to what I had to say...Maybe I'm already in your debt, but I need your help again. I don't know who else I can turn to."

Kaen would likely notice Luca would begin getting restless as he spoke. This was not a very comfortable subject at all, and asking for help...being genuine about it was certainly not making it any easier. Beneath the table, Luca bounced his leg and clenched his fists. It was as if revealing this was enough to ensure the worst case scenario would happen.

If Kaen asked Luca to explain who was after him and why, Luca would relent.

"Do you remember the Vandenreich chick I told you about? The gothic one with the creepy power? What I told you about her was true. I only left out some details. After she declared me to be an abomination, I defended myself. I scored blow after blow on her, but she wouldn't stop. I cut off her fucking arm and that wasn't enough to stop her at first! Right after that she almost punched a hole in my chest! By the time I finally dropped her, she was bleeding to death in the street. I could have left her. I wanted to...but I didn't. I took her to UE as my prisoner.

No one ordered me to, I just did. She'd have died had I not taken her in, but the vandenreich won't want to hear that. If they even suspect me, they will kill me. That was why I was looking for you...Well, not you specifically, I was investigating strong shinigami presences around Karakura. The plan was to provide intell on where the vandenreich would strike next so that way you could intercept them. I didn't know you'd be the one I'd find...It's why I even bothered trying to be honest about it. I guess I owed you that much."

regardless of if Kaen asked Luca for more details or not, Luca would await his response.

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen grinned broadly at Luca and folded his arms behind his head. "Lead the way then!" He replied exuberantly. "Underground Tokyo reminds me of my childhood. I'm gonna be curious how it matches up!" Kaen, having spent more than a small amount of his childhood escaping from the watchful eye of his parents to go galivanting around the streets of the more dangerous Rukon districts with the friends he didn't dare let his parents find out about. Luca taking him into the deep dark "don't go there" places reminded him of this.

Kaen had no issue keeping pace with Luca, still marveling at the late night city. Soul Society didn't have near so many lights, or activity at night. He saw this world practically as if it were his first time. It wasn't of course. Kaen had come to the Human World more often in the last few years but to him it was still a new world to explore. Wonders and knowledge far beyond his limited education in the Seireitei. How can we as Shinigami look down on this place? He wondered. True-- many humans were naive, and ignorant about the Spiritual World. But of this world? Of the world they walked in, talked in, went to work in? How could Shinigami hope to argue they knew more about that? Because they read up on it in a textbook? Because one of their officers lived in this world two hundred years ago? There was no substitution for experiencing it yourself, making mistakes and just living as a Human. It was also a life Kaen had never known. Kaen was born in the Soul Society. He'd never experienced the fleeting existence of a Human, having already lived more than twice a human's normal lifespan. He didn't know what it was like to think that your days were so numbered, but he still tried to understand. Kaen didn't understand theories or the laws of physics (beyond what he could physically interact with) or the like, but he did try to understand people.

"Ken'ichi? Uhh... Fine I guess? I haven't heard much from that end. I'd probably hear about it if Squad 12 killed their own Vice Captain, that sort of thing usually makes the rounds, and it's the sort of thing the Twelfth probably wouldn't be able to keep quiet." He replied, a hair uncertainly. "To be honest... Twelfth Division rubs me the wrong way. They're brilliant, nobody will deny that, but they have no restraint. Too busy asking if they can do something, to wonder if they should do something. Too often someone from my division has to go over there and help with damage control because the answers to that question were "Yes" and "No" respectively. Sometimes they don't come back."

As Kaen entered the club, the first thing he noticed was a number of people at least glancing in his direction. Even in such a place, he stood out a bit, in his Shinigami uniform. But he was quite surprised to see that people actually noticed him. As a spiritual being, Kaen wasn't accustomed to normal humans acknowledging his presence. But he put his trust in Luca, and went to grab seats with the Fullbringer. Kaen took a seat and looked around the place. Hmm.... Not entirely his style, but not bad. If he remembered to wear a gigai next time, he'd have to scope it out a bit more. Who knows. Maybe he could use it as a meeting place. As Luca went off to get the drinks, Kaen focused on his surroundings, taking in all the patrons. He definitely felt his outfit made him a bit uncomfortable here. Really wasn't the Human World standard. But at least here all he got was a weird second glance instead of abrupt staring. Maybe someone just assumed he was coming home from a martial arts class or something? Well, that wouldn't be inaccurate. He'd certainly been practicing martial arts all of ten minutes ago.

Luca wasn't wrong. There were a lot of spiritually attuned people here, even if maybe only one in a hundred of them had any potential of actually developing abilities past that. "Huh. You're right. Lots of people here that can see me." Kaen mentioned. "...Wish I was wearing something a little less obtrusive, even in this company. Hope that these people just don't know what Shinigami are, I'd rather not get bombarded by questions tonight." Beat. "Present company excepted." He quickly added.

In any case, Luca had something big he wanted to talk to Kaen about. Kaen folded his hands respectfully, and leaned forward to listen to his request.

A Vandenreich prisoner. And Luca had maimed them. Kaen paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Oh." Kaen sat in quiet contemplation for a few minutes.

"Luca, what do you know about the Vandenreich? I'm guessing this one dropped some kind of holier than thou spiel, but what do you actually know about them. If I'm going to advise you, I want you to understand why I'm about to tell you that the safest thing you could possibly do right now is to go back to Uzaki Enterprises and kill her right now, and try to pin it on someone else before the rest of them find out."

[Akira Hinosai]

"Hey, I love your cosplay! What character are yo-" A young man had approached their table. He was bookish and plain looking. Thick glasses, mousy brown hair, he was the kind of person you pass by every day. He couldn't have been older than 15. Luca wanted to throat punch the little bastard. He wasn't in the mood for games, especially with these piss ants. Though as he talked to Kaen, his words became hard for Luca to hear. Luca needed to think. He needed to do something. He wanted to run, but his body betrayed him. Luca didn't know what he was expecting. He was expecting more. He had found a last hope and it was crushed before his very eyes.

For a long time, Luca was silent. The noise of the club, the pulse of the beat all seemed to subside. Past, present, and future faded away. All of reality fell away or was compacted into a series of composite shots. Technicolor mosaics painted with a gentle hand. Blue, Purple, Purplish Red, Red, Reddish Purple...Those last three were distinct colors, right? The sequence would always continue before Luca could be certain. Yellow flipped to yellow-green, yellow-green flipped to green and the cycle began a new. This time. Luca thought. This time I'll figure out how many there are. but every time, he couldn't. He tried. He really did.

It should have been easy, but he was still struggling. It wasn't his fault, though. Kaen kept distracting him. With the brighter colors, the oranges and yellows, Luca could see Kaen's honest-looking face. Right as Luca registered it belonged to Kaen and that it was, in fact, honest-looking, the color of the stage lights flipped to something darker. A dark statue, like that of a long dead king. That's what he looked like when the frame was painted red or blue, or the indeterminate shades between. The kind of face that commanded respect, maybe even fear. Luca couldn't even make out his eyes sometimes. They were pools of darkness beneath his brow. Stage lights, they're just stage lights. Heat resistant sheets of colored gel placed over lights. Luca's mind flashed back to high school theater productions, the really low budget kind. This method was antique. Clubs in America didn't use it anymore. That was assuming they ever did. Luca didn't know. NO EXIT was plucked from a time that may not have even existed, and even if it did, Luca would never experience it.

This is just getting sad, Luca. It's hard to watch.

Be quiet. I need to think.

Think? Is that what you call this? Thinking? It's getting you nowhere Luca.

Let me stay at Nowhere for a little while longer. I'll figure something out later.

Hiding won't make the problem go away. You can kill the girl or you can die.

Which will it be? Kill or be killed?

That's not a choice at all! Damn it! Why couldn't Kaen just-

Make this all go away? Save you? You were mistaken. I'm sorry. There's no getting out of this one, I'm afraid.

Have you ever hidden a body before? Sanitized an area of fingerprints and blood residue? It's not fun.

How would you know?

I just do. You know it as well. That's why you're avoiding it. It's not fun. It's terrifying.

The spiritual world is a great adventure to you, isn't it? What you don't understand is that people die on great adventures, Luca. I don't want you to become one of them.

This is your life. These are the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Whether you chose this path or it was chosen for you, you have to deal with the consequences now. It's too late to become anything else. You're YOU.

Luca be vigilant. I love you.

Luca came crashing down to reality. Suddenly, he could hear the music, feel the beat. On his tongue, there was an aftertaste of the blue mixed drink. He was alive once again. There was no time to think on that, though. How long was I staring at Kaen? Luca didn't know, but it definitely fell into the category of too long. He averted his eyes quickly as he took another gulp from his drink, dripping some down his chin. He wiped it with an awkward gesture. He both had to acclimatize back to reality and pretend he had never left. "Murder. We're talking murder. Yeah, sure, I can do that. It'll be a pain in the ass, but if that's what I have to do, I guess I have no choice." Luca shrugged matter of factly. It might seem strange how quickly he came to accept the idea of killing a prisoner.

"Ideally, you plan out a perfect murder before you do anything illegal. I guess it can't be helped, in this case." Luca began twirling a lock of hair around his finger. "Sooo...Who can we pin a murder on and not feel bad about...Speaking hypothetically of course." Luca leaned back, suddenly feeling a wave of energy overtake him again. This was his plan, you came to him to receive it. Play along. Don't make your position worse by getting choosy.

If this is the safest option, it's unlikely he has too much more to offer you now. Squeeze some minor concessions. It doesn't matter either way. "Damn, I guess we won't have time to spar, seeing as my schedule just got considerably fuller." Luca didn't even seem bitter. "I don't suppose you have any tips for...garbage disposal or sanitation work?" Luca said with a wink. He hoped Kaen would understand the meaning of "HOW TO COVER UP A MURDER AND ERASE ALL SIGNS LEADING TO ME AND MY ASSOCIATES." And hopefully Kaen would be distracted from Luca's temporary catatonic state...

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen looked over at the newcomer commenting on his cosplay. Oh thank goodness! Yeah, cosplay, he could work with that. Kaen gave the guy a huge grin. "Eyy! Thanks! Still a work in progress tho-- Trying for Recca Hanabishi's shinobi outfit from Flame of Recca. I know he only wore it in like.... two chapters in the entire series, but they put it on enough of the manga covers and I liked the look!" He replied cheerfully, immediately just rolling with the misunderstanding. Made things easier anyways. Kaen gave some short smalltalk about anime/manga with the newcomer, before returning his attention to Luca. Yes, Kaen knew anime and manga. Well. Mostly manga. Soul Society wasn't very good on streaming services. Either way, the smalltalk, while fun, wasn't why he was here and after a few, Kaen politely dismissed the kid, turning back to Luca, who seemed to be staring at him.

"What? Do I have something on my face? Agh, the Hollow didn't leave anything did it?" Kaen inquired, running a hand over his face, to check for anything. Luca continued, immediately pushing in on Kaen's advice, which actually surprised Kaen. Either Luca knew more about the Vandenreich than he thought, or he was blindly following Kaen's advice. He did give Luca a cheeky little grin though in response to asking about garbage disposal. "Luca. I'm effectively the de facto leader of Soul Society's internal investigations unit. If there's a way to bury something, I've probably dealt with it. I know the trickiest ways to do that sort of thing, because I've had to unravel them. At any rate, I know what I'd do if I knew it was me looking into it." He sighed. "But that was only half of what I asked you Luca. I asked what you know about the Vandenreich for a reason. Cause to be honest, while I wouldn't say what I did if I didn't mean it, it's not an answer I like. I just... from my own knowledge and experience, you can't reason with the Vandenreich." Kaen leaned forwards, elbows on the table, and folded his hands. His voice lowered such that anyone nearby wouldn't be able to listen in.

"My understanding of the Vandenreich is that they're an organization of Quincy, completely and entirely devoted to the service of a being they call "The Emperor." A powerful entity that is dedicated to purging the world of anything that isn't a Quincy under his rule. The Vandenreich worship him like a deity. Every Vandenreich is completely and wholly dedicated to his ideals. If you do not kneel to them, you are a stain to be eliminated. Even if you kneel to them, some of them may decide that, as you are not "pure" like them, you still need to be eradicated anyways. If you strike against them, you are blaspheming against their god. Frankly, I'm not convinced that even if you gave your captured Vandenreich back to them, they wouldn't have her executed just for embarrassing them by losing to someone who wasn't a Vandenreich. They're that kind of organization." Kaen sighed.

"I know that Soul Society has a bad reputation with many groups. I know that we, the Shinigami, have made a lot of mistakes. But even at our worst, our most vile, and our most xenophobic, even the worst of the Shinigami don't hold a candle to the Vandenreich. As my understanding of the Vandenreich goes, you defeating one of their members will be seen as an insult to them. A blow. An act of war. When they find out, they'll come in force to correct that mistake, and remind you, and anyone associated with you that "The Vandenreich serves the true god of this world, and you do not raise a hand against Him." Or some bullshit like that." Kaen shook his head. "That is why I suggested that the safest thing you can do is do everything possible to make sure they never find out about this. Sure, they might come looking for their missing officer, but as long as they can't tie it to you, you at least won't have a target on your back. They'll still probably try and kill you if you run into one, but at least they won't be actively seeking you or Uzaki Enterprises out."

Kaen frowned a bit. "That sort of thing doesn't sit well with me though. So I guess when I asked you what you knew about the Vandenreich, I hoped you might have a little insight that might be able to disprove me. I've only clashed with them twice myself. It wasn't a good day." He noted. Something was flickering at the back of his mind though. Wait... No. That's wrong. I shouldn't be thinking that... But what if it works? ...Is it worth it? No. It can't be worth it. That's the sort of thing a scheming politician would cook up. If I do that, I could kill a LOT of people.

A lot of people have already died. We're fighting a war on two fronts. We can't afford to be choosy about our methods. This would be a huge step towards accomplishing our goals. It's wrong though. No way Luca would agree to it. I could literally be killed by our own side if we went through with this. I could be killed doing a lot of things that I do anyways. What makes this any different?[/i] Kaen's eyes reflected a fair bit of inner turmoil, as if he were contemplating a particularly hard subject. What if... What if he asked Luca to turn the Vandenreich prisoner over to him? He could take her back with him to Soul Society, and redirect the Vandenreich's ire to Soul Society, and away from Uzaki Enterprises. Plus... It might force Soul Society to look at Uzaki Enterprises as more than a simple problem child. Uzaki Enterprises had captured a Vandenreich, and then sent it over to Soul Society. Not an act of war, but something that complicated matters. A lot. If Soul Society wanted to avoid future complications like that, it might encourage them to work closer with Uzaki Enterprises? But there was so much that could go wrong. What if the Vandenreich escaped. What if the Vandenreich retaliation was stronger than expected? What if Soul Society dug its heels in? Aaaggghhh there were so many factors! How the hell does Mom DO this kind of thing all the damn time? Kaen wondered, and furthermore wondering how his father was able to keep up with his noble politicking mother so well.

[Akira Hinosai]

Luca had never been a smoker, but in that moment, he'd have killed for a cigarette. In his mind's eye, he could see himself taking a long drag. He saw himself nursing it to the filter. "Well, I guess we're both out of luck in that regard. Let's just say Axis Sally hasn't been playing nice with us. We still know about as much as we did before capturing her. I don't expect her to break, even faced with death." Luca rubbed his eyes. For a moment, he stared at his drink, uncertain if she should speak his mind. "I didn't want it to come to this, you know. Killing her, I mean. Is that lame or what?" Luca smiled sadly.

"She's a monster. She's inflicted untold suffering in the name of her god. If the roles were reversed, she'd have me dead without a moment of hesitation... Even so, the idea of killing her doesn't sit right with me. Hollows are one thing. They don't look like people. It's easy to forget they ever were. This woman was a child once. The vandenreich turned her into a monster and set her loose on an unsuspecting world. In the end, I guess all that is self righteous posturing. This is how the world works, really. Rabid dogs need to be put down."

"I can take you to where she's locked up. I just need your help making sure no one finds the body once I make an end to her." Unless Kaen had any new plans to share, Luca would get up, check his pockets and proceed out of the stupid little gimmick club.

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen grinned, but it was a hollow one. "Unfortunately. Doesn't surprise me that she's tightlipped. I wouldn't be surprised if she sees this as either a trial, or a punishment for her failure. Zealots are a pain to work with, because nothing's worse than betraying their master, death and pain included." He commented. "Does this make you a Zealot, boy? After-all, you'd sooner die or suffer pain than betray--" "That's an uncomfortable statement and we'll pick that apart another time Hachiryuu. Besides, even if you're right, it's not the same thing. I don't kill innocent people. I may have killed some good people. But never an innocent. And she would never ask me to either." Kaen replied in a silent conversation with his Zanpakuto.

As far as not killing the Vandenreich, Kaen gave a slow nod. "If there's an alternative... Yeah, I get it. I agree. Killing people is not easy. I'll beat someone up, but killing people.... Most of the time it doesn't feel right. Maybe one or two times I've encountered a true S.O.B. where killing them actually felt justified, but that is rare... Even assholes can be decent people sometimes. There can be... something... good about even the worst people." He sighed. "But sometimes you don't have a choice." He added. "Sometimes it's not about doing the right thing or the wrong thing, sometimes it's about looking at two wrongs, and figuring out which one is less wrong."

At Luca's offer Kaen nodded. "Well, we can definitely have a chat with her, at any rate. Dunno how Uzaki will feel about a Shinigami taking unauthorized action on one of its prisoners, or how that'll reflect on you though." He stated, standing from the table, and following Luca. "Sorry our reunion's gotta be colored by work. Especially since I'm off duty." He added as he followed Luca out of the club. "Sounds like it's not all been doom and gloom though, right? Sounds like some good has come out of recent events for you? If you're tangling with the Vandenreich and not dying, it seems you've at least made leaps and bounds and strides in your growth. And I'm sure there's other things that have gone well for you, right?"

[Kitai Yoru]

Akira Hinosai: 43 paragraphs, 40% boost
Kaen Youji: 34 paragraphs, 30% boost