The First Spiritual Meeting (Training/Closed/Jak & Hotaru)

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru found herself on routine patrol in Karakura Town again. She still didn't understand why this town, above most other places, had the most things happening in it. She figured that there must be something in this place that drew the hollows, but she had no idea what it was. But, she didn't want to dwell on it too much. It would make her head hurt after awhile. She's tried it before and the migraine she had afterwards wasn't worth it.

She was sitting on the edge of a roof, people watching. It was one of her favorite past times while she was in the human world. She did this so she could see what has changed in the world. All the technology was the one thing that still blew her mind. Humans had progressed so much in such a fairly short amount of time. It was very impressive. She glanced around the streets, trying to use her senses to sense any hollows. She couldn't find any in the near vicinity.

Since she couldn't sense any, she jumped off the roof and landed on the street below her. She then started to walk through the crowds on the streets. Thankfully, she was near her usual spot for watching 'television.' She stood there and started to watch an episode of one of her favorite television shows, Chopped. She stood and watched, completely engrossed in her show. Well, not completely engrossed, since she was still using her senses to tell her if anything was coming up behind her.

[Jak Halcom]

Jak Halcom walked through the crowded side walk his his hands in his pants pockets. The young man seemed to be in a perpetual bad mood whenever anyone sees him on the streets. Some thought that was because he was just some delinquent that is always looking to pick a fight, other think that he is in with the mob or a gang and is patrolling his territory. Neither of those were true, but Jak didn't care what other people though of him. His black hair was spiked up and back to keep it out of his face. The back part of it fell past his ear lobes. He didn't wear a shirt, but only wore a black vest to keep his arms free. He wore a pair of worn blue jeans and a pair of blue and black sandals.

Jak had several traits that made him stand out from other people. His eyes were a deep red. People say that he has the fires of hell itself burning in his eyes. The next odd trait was his ears. They were pointed and angled back slightly. They resembled those of elves in fantasy stories, but the most notable of all was his right arm. It was an angry red compared to his normal tanned skin and hot to the touch. Heavy black chains wrapped up his arm as if restraining it or some reason. Due to the weight of the chains, his right arm was slightly bigger than his left arm.

Jak something felt a bit off as he approached the TV store. He looked up and saw a person in black robes standing watching the TVs. He recognized the outfit and the sword at her hip as those of Shinigami. His mother had told him about them, and that he should always be careful around them. Instead of caution being the for front of his thought, it was rage. A group of Shinigami had killed his mother while he was out getting groceries when he was younger. He harbored a hatred for them from that day on. 

Without even thinking, Jak quickened his pace. His pace increased to a brisk walk then increased farther to a jog and from their a full sprint. He was not about to let a Shinigami just come and go as she pleased without paying for what her kind has done. He didn't even know if she was the one that killed his mother, but he didn't care. All Shinigami were the same to in his eyes. "Hey you!" He shouted as he approached. When she was within arms reach he pulled back his demon arm and punched out with a hard straight aimed right at her nose. He was throwing all of his weight into the punch.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

While Hotaru was watching television, she felt something. She turned her head and saw a man walking towards her direction. Well, actually he was now jogging in her direction. She figured that maybe he was jogging towards an appointment or something so she was about ready to turn back to the television. Then, he yelled out a hey you in her direction as well. She turned her head back around.

At first, she thought that maybe he was talking to someone behind her. Because, if he could see her, he was spiritually aware. When he got closer, that was when she felt it. The thing about a human that makes them different from the normal human. So, he was spiritually aware. But, something about his reiatsu signature was completely different than she had felt before. She felt something like an inane evil presence in him. She didn't know why she felt it, but it was there.

Then, when he was arm's length away from her, he punched her. But, the arm he punched her with was different. It was a red color, with huge black chains wrapped around it. She easily avoided the punch to her face, but she was amazed at how this arm was completely different from the rest of his body. She had never met another human like him before. But, from what he just did towards her, he wasn't too friendly with shinigami.

"HEY! What in the hell was that for? I haven't done anything but stand here and watch television. I'm sorry if shinigami have harmed you in the past, but I haven't done anything to you that would warrant that kind of violence. I do protect the innocent. I have enough honor within me to not retaliate. I can't speak for the rest of my kind, but I promise you that I'm not going to hurt you unless you try to stab me or something." She stood in front of him and waited to see what he would say.

[Jak Halcom]

The Shinigami moved out of the way of the attack leaving his fist to fly through the air. He had to take a step to keep his balance. He got back into a fighting stance. His fists were up to guard his head and his feet were shoulder width apart. He kept his weight on the balls of his feet his fists clenched tightly. He glared at the shinigami woman. She protected the innocent? He doubted that. If shinigami were there to protect the innocent, then they wouldn't have been the ones that killed his mother. Her self-righteousness was getting on his nerves.

"I don't care what you claim to protect. I sure as hell know that it isn't the innocent Shinigami!" He said running at her again. He stepped with his left foot and pivoted throwing a hard middle round-house kick aimed at her ribs. If she backed up, he would peruse her with a hard straight back kick to her stomach. He was not thinking clearly at all. All he cared about was putting that shinigami to the ground.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

When she avoided this man's attack, he took a step to steady himself and then went back into a fighting stance. He was definitely a hand to hand fighter, keeping his arms up to guard his head with a stance of his feet shoulder width apart. It was similar to her stance, except she used a sword. It was interesting the parallel for her fighting stance and his. But, it seemed that what she said was pissing him off.

He said that he doesn't care what she claimed to protect but it wasn't the innocent. He started to run at her again and tried to kick her in the ribs. She Shunpo'ed and appeared about two feet to her right, avoiding his kick all together. The Shunpo put her really close to the wall, so she Shunpoed again, getting of the street and the building and more in the road. "Believe what you want, but I'm telling you the truth. I protect the innocent. I can't speak for the rest of my kind, but I don't hurt anyone that is innocent. Though, with all your fighting, you might end up hitting somebody else."

[Jak Halcom]

Jak continued to glare at her as he breathed heavily. Not from fatigue of fighting, but just from being so angry. What she was saying was starting to break through Jak's rage and stubbornness. He brought his right foot almost even with his left foot, but he still kept it a little behind his left foot just in case the shinigami decided to attack him. He dropped his hands to his sides, but he kept them in tight fists. 

"Tell me then, do you know of the mod soul hunting?" He asked looking her dead in the eyes. His red eyes bore into her with hatred and anger. She may not have taken part in the hunting and exterminating of mod souls, but her kind was no less responsible. If fighting her wasn't going to get him any where, maybe he could at least find out if she knew anything about the group that was responsible for killing his mother.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

She watched this human with interest. He was still glaring at her and breathing from obvious rage. He kept his right foot behind his left, so he can kick out at her if she went in to attack him. She wasn't going to do that, but of course he couldn't know that for sure. There must have been something that happened that made him hate shinigamis so much. Once he dropped his hands to his side he looked like he was going to talk, but he kept the hands in fists, probably channeling his rage that way.

He then asked her if she knew of the mod soul hunting. His red eyes continued to glare at her with pure rage. She was curious why a human wanted to know about it, but there was obviously something in his history connected with mod souls. "I was not involved in the hunting of mod souls, but we learn about it in the Shinigami Academy. The scientists in the Twelfth Division made them for fighting and when they were done with them, they were to be destroyed. I was not in Soul Society when this happened, but I do know that a few escaped and we're not actively hunting them right now. I actually befriended a mod soul just the other day. He is definitely an interesting character."

[Jak Halcom]

"Apparently someone has been hunting going out hunting them. My mother..." He paused taking a deep breath to try and keep his rage under control. "...She was a mod soul, and she was murdered by your kind!" He shouted his fists tightening even more to the point where his knuckles were turning white. He was visibly shaking now. The memories of that day two years ago was still fresh in his mind. He would never let it go. He would never forgive, he would never forget.

"Do you know anything about that!" He was having trouble keeping his emotions under control now. His grief, sorrow, and rage all threatened to overwhelm him in a violent outburst. "Who is responsible for giving them the order to kill my mother!" He walked to her keeping his eyes to the ground. He would then try to grab the collar of her robes. If he did she would feel the intense heat of his right arm against her chest.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru listened to what he had to say. It seemed like his mother was a mod soul and she was caught by shinigami during the purge. It made her sad that his mother was caught. Though, come to think of it, she had no idea that mod souls could have children like that. It made their blight even worse. Even though they were artificial, they could still produce life and had lives that were destroyed by her kind. It made her angry.

He then asked if she knew anything about that, if she knew anything about the people responsible for giving the order to kill the mod souls. He was yelling and then walked to her and grabbed her by her collar. She felt intense heat coming from his right arm. It was definitely different and she would have to ask about that later. "I honestly don't know who gave the order for the purge. If I knew, I would say something, but I don't. My name is Hotaru by the way."

[Jak Halcom]

He let her go turning away from her. trying to fight her was not going to be doing him any good. He would just be wasting energy that he could be using in more productive ways. She introduced herself has Hotaru. He might as well introduce himself. "Jak," he said in a low voice. He leaned his back against the wall of the store and sighed heavily. This was getting him no where. He looked at the shinigami girl rubbing his temples with his normal hand.

"Sorry about all that. You can understand my hostility to shinigamis" he said leaning his head back. He was trying to relax and calm down. Though he had been training for the day that he does find the shinigami that killed his parents, it was clear just form this encounter that he was far from ready to avenge her. 

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Once he let her go, she could tell that he was disheartened. She felt bad for the man. It was obvious that he wanted to avenge his mother, which he has the right to do. She knew the feeling well and saw it much while she was alive. She did something similar, except she went out to protect her father instead of avenging a family member. He then said that his name was Jak. "It is a pleasure to meet you Jak." She held her hand out for a hand shake.

He then said that he was sorry for what he did and that she could understand his hostility towards shinigami. "I completely understand. While I was alive, I went into a war that my country was in because my father was drafted into the fight and I didn't want to see him hurt. I ended up dying, but not before I protected my father enough to get him off the battlefield. Though, if you want to fight, you need to train. You are not strong enough to stand against anyone as you are right now."

[Jak Halcom]

Jak shot her an angry glare, but he knew that she was right. It was the last thing he wanted to hear from a shinigami, but he knew just from this encounter that he has a long way to go before he can take on anyone. He looked at his right arm turning it over and back again. His mother never really told him about his father. All she told him was that he was not human like her. If that was the case, why did he have this right arm? What exactly was his father? He clenched his fist and looked at Hotaru again.

"So what do you suggest? I don't think there are many shinigami willing to train me in order for me to kill them." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. He didn't know any spiritual beings on a friendly level, so he couldn't ask to be trained by anyone, and fighting local street punks won't be much used to him in that regard either.                

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

This man, Jak, gave her an angry glare at her comment. He obviously didn't want to face the truth that he wasn't strong enough. He then looked at his right arm, moving it over and back. She wondered if he knew how he got that. She didn't truly know about that kind of power either, making the arm that red color but the rest of his body normal. She needed to go look that up when she was back at Soul Society.

Jak then asked her what she suggested. He said that many shinigami wouldn't train him in order to kill their own kind. He raised his eyebrow to accentuate the question. It was pretty clear that she was the first spiritual being that he's ever talked to. But she had a few suggestions. "Well, there are spiritually aware humans in this town as well. They can see shinigamis too. If you found one of them, they could possibly train you. I've ran into them myself here. Also, I could try training you, but I've never trained anyone before."

[Jak Halcom]

"I haven't received much training in fighting either, so it would be a first for the both of us." He got to his feet and looked at her with a more friendly expression, but even then it looked rather hostile. "We can try training together i guess. If it doesn't work out then I can find someone else to..." He was cut off by the howl of a hallow. It didn't sound that far away either. He had gotten used to hearing them since he could hear them all his life. He had even fought a few before. His face lit up a little with a slight smile as he ran off into the direction of the hallow. 

The few times he had fought hallows it was purely in self defense. He didn't know what was going on or really what they were. His mother mentioned them a little bit when she was teaching him about the shinigami, and even 'talked' to one during one of their fights. He didn't know if Hotaru was behind him or not, but he would guess that she was since it was her job to fight them. This time it was training time. He clenched his right arm ready to fight.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru listened to him, saying that he hasn't been trained very well with fighting so it would be a first for both of them. She smiled a little at that. Even thought he still looked hostile, he was warming up to her. He said that they could try training together and if it didn't work out, he could find someone else. She was going to agree when she heard a hollow roar pretty loudly.

He then started to run towards the sound of the hollow. She figured that he must've done this a few times already. Since it was her duty to slay the hollow menance, she ran after him. She was able to easily catch up to him and ran alongside him. He looked eager to fight and she was ready to do battle with the hollow. She was also curious to see what this Jak could actually do in a fight.