Post by Nakajima Kimiko on Dec 24, 2023 12:09:11 GMT -5
Though he attempted to keep his mouth shut for as long as possible as he was held by Fuuko, Yū appeared to be rather curious about how what the two officers were supposed to be. At a glance, it was obvious to him that they were super-powered beings who could somehow both move at sonic speed and manipulate alien weaponry without much effort, and thus they could not be described as normal Humans like himself. With that being said, what was thrown in-between the women is what got his attention the most. Again, they spoke of squads and captains as well as investigations. Fuuko even mentioned a stealth force of sorts. So far, in his eyes, it made him seem as though the both of them came from some kind of military organization. But if that was the case, did that mean that they was such an organization... in the afterlife? What? Surely, that couldn't make any sense. Why would such an organization even exist to begin with?
Puzzled, nauseated and still in a bit of pain thanks to the stitches on his stomach, the man would find himself becoming more and more visibly confused by it all. In fact, just a simple look at him would be enough for anyone to realize that he was in a bad shape, both physically and psychologically. He was closing his eyes by then, trying his best to keep his vision away from the rapidly-distancing ceiling of the facility and the rapidly-approaching floor below as they descended towards the basement, and his mouth was shaped strangely, like he was putting a bit of pressure on each side of his lips. Should this had gone on for any longer, the color of his face would have perhaps been completely drained away, and he would have been left looking more so like a ghost than both Kimiko and Fuuko. The poor guy will most likely need a little bit of therapy once this entire city is cleared of the threat it is currently facing, even if they are able to remove his memories of this entire incident.
Fortunately for him, his face didn't go white, as something was able to completely return it to a more natural state. In fact, he was even able to briefly forget about what was happening, if momentarily. Unfortunately, what was able to bring him such a positive reaction was, well, Fuuko's vulgar talk. Hearing the woman's obscene words was enough to cause him to grow red all over, as though he was completely taken aback by what she had just said. He even almost let go of Fuuko while he was being carried by her, like he wanted to get away from her from the sheer embarrassment. Luckily, he did not do this. However, instead, his grip tightened from the embarrassment as he shook his head with great force. "I-I-I-I, no! No, I would not dare to do such a thing!" He responded quickly to the officer, his face completely reddened by then. "T-That's such a vulgar thing to say! My... My genitals are in perfect condition! T-They must be!"
Kimiko said nothing throughout this little incident, though she couldn't help but be quite happy that she was in front of Fuuko in that instance, because her expression had twisted into one of astonishment and bewilderment. Just moments ago, they were talking about the mission and how they were going to complete it while they would take care of the man they were now escorting, and suddenly, somehow, the conversation then had turned from that particular topic to something that was much more shocking in comparison. Earlier, when they were both alone, she was able to spew out a few comments that were capable of rivaling the blonde's, but she just now couldn't add anything all thanks to Yū's presence in their little group. Just imagining herself speaking like that in front of someone like him, a Human so confused by everything he has been experiencing thus far that he seemed like he was about to pass out soon... No. No, she just couldn't.
For the sake of her image as well as her focus on the operation, said conversation would not last for much longer, as they would then finally reach the basement and its industrial elevator. While they would slowly descend into the deepest parts of the facility, Fuuko spoke to Yū, telling him that he now could not be described as a normal Human anymore because he could see the two Shinigami. This time around, Kimiko decided to add her two cents to the conversation. "I'm guessing it's because of all the reiryoku being released around the city. Whatever's hiding around here is releasing so much of that stuff that I can't sense anything else," she would guess then. This caused the office worker to blink and repeat the term in an inquisitive fashion, which pushed the Captain to elaborate. "Basically, reiryoku is something that's released by souls. If you've played any video game in your life, you could say that it's sort of like mana, but it's a bit more complicated than that. Usually, that stuff can't really be released by Humans, but there's a few exceptions to that."
"So... So you're saying that I could be like you two...?"
The swordswoman would think about that question for a moment, remaining silent as she did so. Something about it bothered her. It wasn't because he had asked it to begin with, as she had already judged him by now to be an unfortunate trespasser to this whole situation, but rather because she wasn't sure of how she could answer him. There's a few Humans who she imagined would believe seeing "ghosts" to be fun, but even now, she couldn't even imagine how this poor man would react to seeing a Hollow for the first time of his life. Worse, she couldn't imagine him seeing Hellions. With that said, she felt like he needed to hear it. It would be unfair to keep this a secret for him, especially given all he had witnessed as of late. "To be honest with you, you probably won't become as strong as us. That'd require a whole lot more of the stuff, I think. But, like she said, you will most likely be able to see souls once we're done here. That means you will see other people like us, as well as what you would think are normal ghosts," she explained to him, then grew more serious. "It also means that you will see what we hunt on a daily basis."
A quietness came to the man then as he seemed to consider the higher officer's answer. He appeared unsure of how to react to the information that had been given to him, as made evident by the fact that he had turned his eyes away from the Captain to instead point them towards the floor of the elevator. Then, with an uncertain look on his face, he turned himself back towards the crate he had just opened and found himself staring at the unknown medicine again. "I... Okay," he muttered as he kept staring at the boxes, clearly shaken and lost, which caused Kimiko's eyes to soften a bit. The man was strong, or he was at least trying to be in front of everything that was happening before him, but he was growing closer and closer to his limit, and it showed. Although, from the looks of things, both she and Fuuko could indeed keep him from experiencing his existential crisis by asking questions to him. "I... I didn't log anything... When we arrived here, we... we didn't have the time to check our records at the hospital..." he answered, attempting to remember a few more details. "M-Maja-san told me that a new batch of morphine had been ordered, but that was... that was about it..."
Kimiko would gaze at the crate again, then approach it before picking up one of the boxes of syringes contained with it. Frowning, she would gaze at it for a moment, trying her best to understand both why this liquid was being kept in such a facility, why it was already contained in multiple syringes, and why it was glowing in such a way. Eventually, however, she would sigh and turn her head towards Fuuko. "Yeah, it definitely sounds like this'll be more up their alley. As much as I want to know what this is supposed to be, I can't say I can really figure it out on my own." She made no attempts to hide her inability to understand this concoction. She was no chemist, and quite frankly, she had no real reason to become one before now. As such, it would indeed be better for them all to contact those who were from the Fourth and Twelfth Divisions for more information on the matter. They would be able to sort this out, much like how Aramis and his scientists had quickly sorted out the matter of the Human supposedly mutated by Chiba Chimon's work.
Once this was said, she put the box she had picked up back into the crate and looked back towards Fuuko. Like she and Yū, the blonde seemed to believe the liquid to be suspicious, and so she asked a few questions. Truth be told, however, there weren't many answers Kimiko could give to her. "Eh, no, I don't have something like that with me. The only thing I got right now is that cellphone I'm always given before I go on any mission, but I can only send text messages with it," she said then before she pulled something from out of her pockets. It appeared to be a flip phone of sorts, the kind that was popular in the 2000s. Seeing the device was enough to cause Yū to blink again, as though taken aback by the fact that a woman like her - who might as well be some kind of magic samurai - even had something like that on her person in the first place. Then, after she made her case, the Captain returned the phone to her pocket before then granting her attention to her student's hypothesis. "Well, unless that thing dilutes in water or something, I haven't been seeing anything like it outside of this place. If that was the case, that fountain in front of the facility would've been glowing too."
It was flawed logic. Even she knew that what she had said probably didn't make much sense and would have perhaps been ridiculed by someone who had minimal knowledge about such things. However, ultimately, that was as far as she could go when it came to chemistry. The same thing could be said for anything remotely scientific, for that matter. Long ago, when she was still part of the Living World, she knew about these topics to some extent, but such knowledge has long since faded away throughout the course of time as it was all steadily replaced by lessons of swordsmanship, training, and her understanding of spirituality as a whole. Perhaps, in a way, this was for the best. A woman like her, one who was so destined to pledge her full attention to battle and only battle, did not require the use of advanced science in order to properly accomplish her job. She only required the utmost-basic understanding of it all, and that was about it.
In any case, eventually, she would begin to feel as though the already-slow elevator was progressively starting to slow down. It seemed as though they were to reach the lower levels of the facility very soon. Noticing this, she would briefly look up towards the path that they had crossed so far. From the looks of things, they had already gone done for quite a fair bit. The entrance to the elevator from the basement's level was quite a fair bit away, looking like a spec in the distance, and what separated them must have been several levels underground. It was interesting, to say the least, and it made her wonder what could possibly be kept in a location that was so deep under the earth. In so doing, once the elevator slowed further and further, the swordswoman would turn towards the main gate that would lead them towards the building's lower levels, then smirk. "If all of this was caused by another mad genius, then we'll stomp them out! If not, we'll find another way!" She declared then, energetic as always. "I just hope they won't use guns. I want this to be a nice fight!"
And with that, the gate of the elevator would slowly begin to open. Kimiko would gaze onward, standing straight as she prepared for what was to come, while Yū would gulp and left his crowbar up as he remained near the other Shinigami. Hopefully, this is going to go well.
