Matters of Arrogance and Heart [Joint Training / Closed]

[Zatoshi Kizukara]

It was rather bold, planning to leave the first thing in the morning. Anyone who felt any kind of shame or anxiety over being confronted about what they were doing would have left at night, but Zatoshi was more pragmatic than that. The fact was that he held no shame, just frustration. The academy had months to teach him something valuable, something to justify him staying longer and yet he felt as though the training he put himself through was far more effective at preparing him for what was ahead than this school had.

In his eyes, his being here was something of an exchange; an agreement. He had no desire to be a shinigami, to be wrapped up in such a tight hierarchal structure and to take orders from others. He would do it though, would have followed all the way through with it so long as they provided the training he needed to make his siblings safe. Thus far, he didn't really feel as though they were fulfilling what he needed from them.

He didn't have much to pack. He dressed today not in his academy uniform, but a light blue yukata patterned in white lotus blossoms. He slid his asuachi under his obi. If they wanted the sword they issued him back they would have to take it, he had too much use of it to forfeit it otherwise. His other possessions were not numerous; some clothes, some hygiene items that he stuffed into a canvas bag and threw over his shoulder.

It was a long journey out to district 53. His route from there had taken him over a month to complete, even when he rode a horse or rode in a wagon through part of that travel. He supposed his first priority should be transportation then. He just worried that he'd waited too long already. His mind ran through possibilities of everything that could have happened in the months he'd been away. None of them were good.

At least with how early his day started the academy grounds were relatively clear. He didn't expect to be challenged, though he remembered one of the very few meaningful encounters he'd had happened this early in the morning. He still wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, though it had been a positive experience. Learning that the wolf he'd ran into was connected to a captain of the Gotei 13 gave him some mixed emotions.

He didn't know what to make of it because he truly didn't know what to expect; he wasn't so naïve as to believe that someone in a position of power taking an interest in him was always a good thing. Pawns are pawns, whether they take a piece or get taken themselves, both results can serve a greater strategy. He made his way through the halls, eventually walking out into the courtyard. He could see the gates to the rukongai ahead. Just a little further, and his journey home will have truly begun.

[Kimiko Shihoin]

Out on patrol early in the morning all over again was Haunzu. The black and grey wolf that moved throughout the streets of the Seireitei on a more common basis is now even going into the Rukongai every few days. This wolf was seen on a constant basis across Soul Society yet the strangest thing that most didn’t even consider or realize for that matter, more than one of them was being seen all the time, at the same time.

One Haunzu just a short time ago had come across a student of the academy that seemed to seek out power above all else, an impatience for that power. One willing to put in the work to reach it yet had the raw emotion available to invite in issues. Mistress agreed that the student could be aided in developing into a stand out Shinigami, one that could aid in the Second Division should his talents truly align with the purpose for the Division. If he possessed talents more fitting to a different Division then all the same.

Getting over to the academy though while the sun was only just starting to rise, Haunzu could immediately tell that the student wasn’t currently present. His scent was here and it was potent which told the wolf that the student had been here recently yet it wasn’t present enough for the source to be nearby. Beginning to act more like a bloodhound than a wolf, Haunzu tracked down the student he’d been sent to find by his mistress. By the time he’d found the student he could recognize him in a different set of clothes walking towards one of the gates separating the Seireitei from the Rukongai.

Haunzu being the way he was could only verbally communicate with his Mistress yet that didn’t mean he was incapable of getting this students attention. Rushing forward in order to catch his eye wasn’t something that Haunzu sought as it felt like begging to him. No, this student was leaving when he hadn’t been given permission nor even asked for it. Flexing his spiritual pressure Haunzu begins emitting a dark blue aura pushing down moderately on not just the student, but several other Shinigami stationed by the gate. Careful not to force any of them to the ground nor harm them, after only a couple seconds he could hear the voice in his head of his mistress.

“Enough, accompany him.”

His spiritual pressure gone, Haunzu would walk forward meeting up with the student that he’d found. The reaction from the student may be hot in terms of emotion yet Haunzu had been given an order and would follow it like all others. Moving alongside this student in order to aid him, Haunzu had no idea where he sought to go nor how long this trip was going to take. Traveling across the Rukongai to most was a long and arduous journey and one that would seem on slow motion for the Shihoin Wolf.

[Zatoshi Kizukara]

Zatoshi took a halting step as he felt a weight settle upon his being. Even as abysmally blind to the presence of reiatsu as he was he could feel the menace of a being behind him. This weight a metaphysical version of a glare; an unspoken threat. He dropped the bag from his shoulder and turned with his teeth grit. A hand clutched his saya and the other the hilt of the asauchi on his side, but the threat had already abated. The familiar wolf approaching seemed like the only thing that could have could have produced it. He cooled some, but as the wolf neared him he made eye contact.

"If you or your master intend on stopping me then we'd better have it out now," He warned in a low voice. "I've already made up my mind, and I'm willing to kill or die for this," He waited a heartbeat for a reaction to that from the wolf. If he displayed any kind of disapproval then it was on, he'd draw his sword and commit himself to a fight right here in the gate. As insanely ill advised as that might have been he didn't see another option. If he ran he was sure that he would be caught and have to fight anyways, and he'd rather start his fight fresh and unexerted.

If the wolf at the very least seemed apathetic to his statement he'd instead lean down and pick up his bag to continue out of the gate. The shinigami nearby no doubt found these events as an oddity and probably objected to some or all of what seemed to be happening, but with Haunzu accompanying the academy student the chances of anyone trying to confront the pair had suddenly dropped to near nil.

[Kimiko Shihoin]

Although he was following the orders of his mistress, Haunzu couldn’t believe how this student reacted. While the other Shinigami that were stationed near the gate all immediately could feel the spiritual pressure from Haunzu yet take no action, the student became aggressive. Haunzu knew how this academy student had met another version of himself, how they had actually gotten along rather well, but instead of questioning why he was there he immediately went with the belief that he was here to stop him.

It wasn’t super off since the mistress didn’t want that to happen while Haunzu was an entity that strictly followed the rules, if the mistress was alright with this student going into the Rukongai though it was fine with Haunzu and thus he stood down. Approaching the student with a noiseless series of steps Haunzu didn’t even make eye contact as he passed him by. The gate Shinigami for the most part didn’t know anything about Haunzu other than they’d seen him wandering throughout Soul Society in the past.

Looking back at Zatoshi, Haunzu would motion his head outwards towards the Rukongai as if he were saying. “Are we going? Lead on.”

[Zatoshi Kizukara]

Zatoshi eyed Haunzu warily for a moment, a dark and distrustful look to his eyes. He scooped up his bag and heaved it over his shoulder again before walking out towards the Rukongai. The feeling he gave off was one of instability. For all his effort to contain his emotion and act in accordance with duty, necessity and honor this action was not truly born of those origins. He was driven by fear. He worried that he was late. That leaving was the wrong decision. That by removing himself from his enemies' reach he would spur them into taking vengeance against those close to him.

It had all come to a boil in his mind. His cool temperament had spikes of hot, violent passion and unpredictability. That interaction had said as much. As they walked across the no man's land between the seireitei and the first district, Zatoshi looked down at the wolf with a stormy expression.

"If you plan on following me all the way out, you should know it's a journey. It took me over a month the first time."

An attempt to drive a potential ally away. One of Zatoshi's most unbecoming qualities rearing its head at the worst time. He'd never accept how nice it would be to have a friend willingly, even in the pitch black place he was emotionally.

[Kimiko Shihoin]

Walking the way that he was, Haunzu knew that this Shinigami in training was worried about something, that something was plaguing his mind. At the same time though he didn’t really get why Mistress Kimiko had given him the order to follow this particular trainee. He knew they’d trained with a Haunzu only a small time ago and they showed promise they’d all seen that, but why go to such extra lengths? There were other trainees and duties they all had to attend to so why put so much time here?

These thoughts were even more cemented when the boy spoke once more claiming that to reach his destination it took him a month last time. In response to his claim Haunzu’s head hung low, the stance that anyone who’d ever seen a canine would believe to mean he was sad. How was he going to stay with him for two months, away from his mistress? This wasn’t something he was meant to do, babysitting some fresh recruit. A warrior, a monster, one meant to eliminate anyone and everyone to stand against mistress!

“Haunzu please stay calm, let's see if we can get him talking.”

Haunzu heard her voice in his head, although following her orders seemed impossible. How was he supposed to get him talking!