A Big Bad Wolf? (Kasumi Shinoda)

Stargazing at the open night sky, had become one of Kasumi’s favorite ways of spending her free time. With her legs crossed, the white haired human child was sitting on the roof, with a little telescope in her hands. One day she’d buy herself a new and more sophisticated one. Though for now, she would have to do with this old and little one. Not that it mattered that much. Kasumi had still a lot to learn about the stars and their place, hence she was simply enjoying the sight. Cuddled up in a warm sweater, she peered through the telescope again when a piercing scream caught her attention. Slightly confused the girl jumped up, trying to figure out where the sound had come from. Being on a roof had its advantages, which she made use of by bowing over the railing and look down. There was nothing there, had it come from the other side? With the telescope still in her hand, firmly clenched between her fingers, she ran to the other side before hanging over the iron bars again. Nailed it! She thought enthusiastically when a cold shiver ran down her spine. Perhaps. ..she shouldn’t be here. Wouldn’t it be best to simply leave? Her blue eyes were studying the scenario somewhere beneath. The little light that was present made her hair shine silver as she took the telescope and closed her left eye. Looking again, she could see a beast dwelling through the alley. By now her heart was racing fast, and she didn’t know what to do. Should she go down there? Or go home?

Thrilled by the idea of seeing it from nearby, she put the telescope down and climbed over the iron railing. There was a fire escape just a few feet away and the girl swiftly landed on it. Memories of her previous encounter with a Hollow were flooding her mind. But she didn’t want to give in; she didn’t want to be scared anymore. Last time she had been saved by a Shinigami, but this time she should be able to handle it on her own somehow. No, she didn’t think that she could fight it head on and win, though she was pretty sure that she would be capable of injuring it somehow, or disappear in the worst case. Though she had been training for a while now! If she would never take any risks, then she’d never know what she is capable of, right? Deciding on taking a look a little bit closer, she slide down the railings like she often did and landed on the dirty ground. Cautiously her gaze slid over the walls around her, before stopping at the presence on the other side of the alley. Was it eating something? Someone? While a sick feeling appeared inside of her stomach, she tried to ignore it. If she wanted to become strong, then she had to deal with all sorts of situations! Obviously it took her quite some effort to convince herself of that. Thinking about the little dagger she had hidden beneath her jeans, attached to her leg, Kasumi felt a bit safer. Then again, it would need to be her speed that she’d need to use, and perhaps.. no. She wasn’t ready for this; she shouldn’t try to start a fight. A throbbing feeling was stuck inside of her throat, coming from her heart. Too late now, the being had probably already sensed her, or maybe even smelled her. Carefully moving forward she narrowed her eyes in order to get a better view. While she could obviously feel that this had to be a Hollow, she couldn’t see the typical mask from where she was standing. A greyish and deep blue mass was moving in the dark alley, and the girl’s eyes widened when she noticed the resemblance between this being and a mythical creature: the werewolf.

A strong build, muscles rolling slowly beneath the skin and fur, fangs sticking out and claws that could easily rip through the girl’s flesh made the one in front of her to whatever it was. Knowing that some of them were capable of more than simply follow their hunger, Kasumi’s mind raced as she opened her mouth to speak. Perhaps this was a mistake, maybe it would even be the last one she’d ever make. And still she couldn’t simply leave it alone and move away. With a gentle tone she started her question, making sure not to be too noisy, not wanting to excite the beast too much. ‘Scaring it’ would be a foolish thing to assume, even to think, considering she was the usual prey.

“Can you talk?”

According to Gina those that could talk, had more chance of being ‘civil’. They were the ones that had been able to subdue this ‘hunger’ they always felt- whatever it was, and gain something back, something of their previous selves. Would this one be one of those that were slowly heading back to humanity? Or would it be a mindless beast? Curiously studying the Hollow, Kasumi remained quiet and ready to run.

[Words: 853 – GP: 17]

The plus's flavor was as disappointing as Chainhunter had expected. Even for a human the tattooed woman beater had been pathetically weak, and barely served to even take the edge of off Chainhunter's hunger. It didn't matter though, it was one less evil in the world, and it was better than nothing.

There was another presence approaching now though, a human child by the feel of the reiatsu. Chainhunter couldn't help but chuckle as he realized the kid was already stronger than the grown man he was eating. Too bad it was also drenched in enough innocence that it nearly killed Chainhunter's appetite even from this distance. He had to force himself to finish off the last of his little snack, and as he did so he noticed that the child was getting closer. In fact it seemed to be heading straight for him. That was strange; the vast majority of humans couldn't even see or sense him, and the few that could were more likely to head in the opposite direction. Chainhunter shrugged it off as he swallowed the last bland morsel of the plus, it was probably just coincidence, some kid playing that just so happened to be running his way.

"Can you talk?"

Or not. Chainhunter carefully twisted his large mass out of the way and turned his head to look at the child, who stared straight back into his eyes. Yep, she was definitely talking to him. It was a human child just as he had thought. A girl with silver hair, 11, maybe 12 years old? Brave little thing, Chainhunter almost laughed out loud comparing her reaction to seeing a hollow with that of his recent prey. He twisted his head slightly, like a curious dog, and answered the girls question.

"Of course I can talk, but since when does a human child talk to a hollow?"

WC:312

GP:6

TGP:19

One thing was sure, she had gotten what she wanted, its attention. As the beast turned its head, she could see a stripe of white fur and its hollow mask. His blue eyes were staring back at her, and she wondered if he’d jump her. All muscles tensed up and she couldn’t do a thing about the fact that she held her breath. As if doing that would somehow help her. Nothing happened for a moment; perhaps they were both contemplating of what to do. And then it happened! He spoke! She assumed that it was a he, considering his voice sounded like a male’s to her. Honestly, she hadn’t expected for this to happen. She had hoped that it would, but it still caught her of guard. Such a contrast to the previous one that she had encountered.. But hé! This was what she had been looking for! Happy about his speaking ability, she smiled gently, studying him. He didn’t sound really offended by the nature of her question. Taking a step forward, she remained cautious before deciding that perhaps clarifying her motives would be a good thing to do.

“I eh didn’t mean to offend you. I’ve just heard that some of .. your kind don’t speak.”

Well, if that would make it better..

Only now did she notice the white chains on his forearms, this made her wonder if someone had chained him. Did he flee from someone? Or.. why was he wearing those chains? Blinking a few time she bit her lip before trying to answer his question. Yes, indeed.. Why would a human child talk to a Hollow? Would ‘being curious’ count as a decent answer? Fumbling with her sleeves a bit, she felt the reassuring warmth of the fabric. It was a bit cold now, which made her happy about having taken the navy blue piece of clothing with her when she had left her room.

“Hmm I guess just.. why not? Will you try to eat me now?”

She wasn’t being rude, she was mere curious. Would he try to do that? Would he succeed in it? Looking around she didn’t see a living being nearby. Maybe that was a good thing. It’d have been quite awkward if she’d need to try and explain to someone why in the world the girl was talking to air. While some would just probably laugh, thinking that she had way too much imagination, others would probably ask her things. She could only imagine how that would go, certainly if the werewolf would decide to take a bite.  Shuffling to the middle of the alley, her white silvery hair waved in the wind when she tried to study his chains.

“What are those for?”

[Words: 457 – GP: 9 – TGP: 26]

This kid sure was the curious kind wasn't she? She seemed nervous, not surprising given the circumstances. In fact it was more surprising that she was able to stand her ground the way she did, let alone continue asking him questions. Interesting questions too, things Chainhunter himself had never thought to ask.

Thinking back Chainhunter realized that the majority of the hollows he had met hadn't spoken to him. It had never occurred to him that they may be unable to speak; though he had always just assumed that they had been caught up in the battle like he was. What if he was wrong though? What if those hollows had been even more consumed by the hunger, or by their animal instincts, than Chainhunter was? So much so that they had actually forgotten how to speak? What if the same thing could happen to him? Now that was a thought that made him want to crawl under a bed and hide.

Before giving her his answer Chainhunter slowly twisted the rest of his body around so that he could face her properly. He had a feeling this was going to be a long conversation, and he didn't want to spend it looking over his shoulder.

"So you think I'd try to eat you, and yet you walk up and talk to me? I can’t decide if that's brave or stupid." That was the truth. Chainhunter didn't intend to be rude, but with his mind being more monster than man, he really had no filter for his words. Besides, he'd never had any need to be tactful, and the idea sounded pretty weak to him anyway.

"No, I won't eat you. I only eat evil souls; an innocent girl like you isn't appetizing to me at all." Unfortunately he could easily see why she would assume that he would attack her. He was a hollow, he was a monster, and he had to remember that.

"As for these ..." He said and held up his right arm, showing off the chains wrapped around it. "These are my weapons, my hunting tools. They make sure that the wicked don't get away before I can eat them."

WC:365

GP:7

TGP:26

Honestly she couldn’t decide it herself. It was probably way more stupid than it was brave, and yet she was still standing there. Mostly she could blame it on her lack of feeling with the reality. And perhaps lack of responsibility. Each and every time someone popped up to somewhat ‘rescue’ the girl from whatever she had gotten herself into. Maybe that was one of the factors who were playing a part in her ‘reckless’ behavior. The intelligent Hollow had turned around and was fully facing the girl now. His tone didn’t betray anything, and she felt a little bit more at ease when he said that eating her wouldn’t be a part of his plan. Then again, what if he was lying? What if that was just something that he said to trap her? Staring at him she replayed his words in her mind. Not appetizing? Really? Did that mean that ‘innocent’ people tasted bad or what? Slightly confused she stared at the Hollow. In a way she even felt a little bit offended. As if she wasn’t good enough. It was really ridiculous to be upset about something like that, and yet she was. Narrowing her eyes a bit more, the girl remained quiet while thinking of something to comment. In the end it would probably be a bad idea to start a fight.. even if it’d be a verbal one.

“Weapons?”

Tilting her head to the side, she almost forgot about his comment of her being ‘not good enough’. Her eyes travelled from his paws towards his shoulders and then moved on to his head. Did that mean that all Hollows had weapons? Not only the ones that looked like humans? Though if she thought about it, it didn’t seem too strange.. They developed and evolved, so it was only normal that they did have some sort of power at the start, no? Curious about how he defined if a soul was bad or not, she put her hand into her pocket, acting ‘casual’.

“How do you know if they’re evil or not?”

This vaguely reminded her about a conversation she had had a while ago. An older girl had taught her that one could sometimes feel others, not only their presence, but their feelings and moods, by their reiatsu. Was this Hollow someone like that? Being capable of sensing others’ feelings somehow just like the blonde? Blinking a few times she decided to ask what his name was. Hollows had names, right? Still tensed and ready to either run or ‘fight’, Kasumi spoke.

“Do you have a name?”

A soft sound of a car driving by the alley made Kasumi move towards the wall, just to be sure to stay out of its headlights. She didn’t feel like being seen by someone that would wonder why a child was hanging out on the streets so late at night. Certainly not, if that would mean anyone approaching her and unconsciously him.. Even if he said that he didn’t eat ‘innocent’ souls, who knew what would happen if he got tempted?

These thoughts caused for soft shivers to run down Kasumi’s spine. Blaming it partly on the cold wind that had appeared out of nowhere, she ignored the negative ideas that were drifting around in the back of her head.

[Words: 552 – GP: 11 – TGP: 37]

Yep, this kid was definitely more brave than she was smart, no doubt about that. Still Chainhunter wasn't complaining, this was the first time he had ever talked to a human like this, as a matter of fact this was only the second time he had talked to anyone like this. Obviously his guard wasn't completely down, far from it, the idea that this could be a trap was always in the back of his mind and he was quite ready to go from explaining to slashing at any given moment, but for now he was just enjoying the kid's curiosity. It sorta reminded him of a certain little cat-girl arrancar he knew. 

When she asked him how he knew when someone was evil or not he pointed to his nose, or rather, the part of his mask that looked like a nose.

"I can smell it. Evil smells like delicious meat that is still on the grill, and innocence has a sharp sweet smell to it. Poor a bottle of perfume over a sandwich and you'll have a pretty good idea of what you smell like to me." The idea that this might sound insulting never even crossed the hollow's mind. He was simply trying to explain the experience in the best way he knew how, and that was it.

It had also never occured to him that he had forgotten, or rather never considered the idea of introducing himself.

"Ha, yes. My name is Chainhunter. What's your name?" He asked politely. Although it probably didn't sound polite, with the low, growling voice of a hollow everything that came out of his mouth usually sounded intimidating by default.

WC:279

GP:5

TGP:31

Smelling was differently from sensing. She hadn’t thought that people were capable of smelling something like that. Then again this wasn’t a human, this was a Hollow! His comparison caused Kasumi to wrinkle her nose. Imagining having to eat a sandwich that was drenched in perfume.. well it didn’t really sound all that tasty. It reminded her of a tea that she used to drink. Raspberry flavor! Really delicious, for about the first two times… Then the smell changes from that sweet and fresh berry, to something chemical. And from then on, you won’t be able to drink that stuff no matter what. Ever since that moment she had switched to mint and sometimes earl grey. Wrinkling her nose even more, she wondered why in the world she was thinking about tea now. This could be considered a life threatening situation, and she was trying to recall what flavor of tea she liked the most now!

Chainhunter?

Well he did hunt.. and he did have chains.

It was a funny thing that his name somehow fitted his appearance. Thinking of her own name, she figured that maybe it fitted her as well. Her hair was white, with some silver, and could be considered a tiny bit of grey. Mist, was grey and white, with silvery strings drifting around in it, right?

“My name is Kasumi, it’s nice to meet you Chainhunter!”

The child was obviously forgetting that she was talking to a Hollow. Her voice sounded a bit more excited and less wary now. Now that she knew that the man could speak, though he did sound a bit angry and rough, not that she minded that, Kasumi wouldn’t leave him alone too easily. All sorts of questions were floating through her head and she couldn’t choose of which one to pose. Remembering the scream that had brought her here, the girls mouth formed a little ‘o’. There was a tiny gasp before she spoke quietly, but curiously.

“Did you just eat someone- the one that had been screaming, no? Was it a bad guy as well? Do you know what he did or did he just smell .. ‘evil’ to you?”

Not being able to pose one question at the time, multiple ones rolled from her tongue without a second thought. Wait.. maybe he didn’t like that? Annoying him would be a bad idea, though Kasumi was too excited to give that any more thoughts than it was absolutely necessary. Closing her eyes for a second, her lips curled up in a sweet smile, before she opened them again and softly giggled. Taking a few steps closer to the beast, she wondered if his fur was as soft as it looked like.

“I hope that I’m not disturbing you.”

[Words: 460 – GP: 9 – TGP: 46]

Nice to meet you? Now that was definitely a first. As a matter of fact Chainhunter thought it was a pretty good bet that this was the first time any human had ever said that to any hollow. Lucky him. He couldn't help but let out the smallest of chuckles as he responded to the child.

"Nice to meet you too, Kasumi" The girl was being so civil that for a moment Chainhunter wondered if she had forgotten that he was a hollow entirely, then all of a sudden a look of shock and fear crossed her face as if she had remembered. Her next question backed up that theory. For a moment he had been afraid that she would come to her senses and run away from the giant werewolf, depriving him of the only conversation he had had in weeks, and that would have sucked. On the other hand, he was getting hungry, and he couldn't very well take her on a hunt with him... or could he? No, that would not go well at all.

"Well mainly I smelled him, but when I got to him he was trying to punch a living woman in the face. Haha, it was funny actually. His fists went right through her face and she just kept smiling." A deep barking sound left his throat as he laughed at the memory. There was no doubt that that guy had been evil, and weak. Weaker than the curious little 11 year old girl he was now holding a conversation with. More of a coward too, although he may have been smarter than her... Briefly Chainhunter wondered what kind of hollow he would have made. Probably something weak, like a rat. Yeah, he had definitely been rat material.

She started acting a little weird after that. Chainhunter twisted his head slightly as she suddenly closed her eyes and smiled and a little more when she opened them and giggled. What was that about? Was she laughing about the plus's failed attack on the living woman? No that didn't seem right... and now she was walking toward him. Was the kid trying to make him nervous? He tried to calm himself down as his fight of flight response started. Well it was really more of a fight or fight response for him, but that wasn't the point. He was being paranoid; this kid couldn't hurt him even if she did try. Although, that could be a dangerous assumption... No, what? Come on, it was just a human child right? Oh and now she was asking another question. Chainhunter shook the stupid nervousness out of his head before answering her.

"Kid this is the first time in weeks I've done anything other than walk around endlessly, and fight random prey. I wouldn't call that a disturbance." He said honestly.

WC:474

GP:9

TGP:40

Oooh he thought that it was nice meeting her as well. Or .. well at least that’s what he said. Did Hollows bother with being polite, or did he really mean that? The moment he mentioned how the ghost had wanted to punch a woman, Kasumi’s eyes narrowed. Some people just liked to hurt others randomly. What a jerk! It was a good thing that the man was dead now. Even if it wasn’t polite, or morally correct to think such a thing, she still couldn’t help it. There were too many sadists in the world, simply hurting other for their own satisfaction. It made her a bit sick, just thinking about it was enough to get anger to boil up deep inside of her. Though she shouldn’t allow these thoughts to distract her from the Hollow before her, who knew when she’d be get another chance like this again?

“Doesn’t it get boring, just to dwell around all the time?”

She was trying to imagine what that would be like. It didn’t sound like too much fun. Where did he wander then, around here? Did he visit other cities, perhaps even other countries? Would he ‘eat’ innocent people if there wouldn’t be any bad ones around? Her eyes were glowing with curiosity and she was certain that she’d ask all of these things soon. Though for now she had another question on her mind.

“Where do you sleep when you get tired?”

One did get tired after running around and fighting, right? So where did Chainhunter sleep. Did he even sleep? Could it be that Hollows didn’t need sleep.. That would partly explain why Gina appeared at Kasumi’s side at night, and never seemed to be tired. The girl had never given this possibility any thoughts, thinking that all living creatures needed sleep. But what were Hollows?.. They were.. ‘dead’.. right? What if they didn’t need sleep because they weren’t alive any longer? Blinking quickly, Kasumi continued to stare at Chainhunter. Perhaps she was being a bit impolite, but the different theories that were crossing her mind prevented her from thinking about the appropriate behavior. And above that, what was the ‘appropriate’ type of behavior in a situation like this anyway.  

[Words: 372 – GP: 7 – TGP: 53]

She didn't seem to find the pluses failed assault to be quite as entertaining as Chainhuter had. In fact the story seemed to make her angry, although he couldn't tell if she was angry at the plus for trying to hit a woman, or angry at Chainhunter for laughing about a plus trying to hit a woman. He hoped it was the former; he didn't want the kid thinking he was some kind of jerk as well as a monster. Wait, why did he care what she thought about him? He had never cared about anyone's opinion of him in his life, what made her so special? Maybe it was just because she was a little girl? Or because she was basically the second person he could remember not wanting to kill him? Well, third, counting Azucena, but even she had been ready to kill him when they first met.

Her eyes glowed with curiosity as she asked yet another question. Maybe that was it, those eyes; they had that certain quality to them that only children had. They melted even whatever heart the hollow had left, and for the first time in his life he let his guard down without even realizing it. He couldn't help but want to please the child; sate her curiosity and answer any question she asked.

"Boring? Sometimes. The human world is filled with all kind of interesting things, but I can only look at them. I'm not a part of this world, so I can't really interact with anything you've made, and sometimes it seems like if all of your cities are the same."

It was only as he spoke the words that he realized they were true. It seemed that most of the girls questions were things that Chainhunter himself had actually never even thought about himself, and they were questions about him. This was just another example of the huge gap between the intelligence of a hollow and a human. He snapped out of his self-pity as she asked him yet another question, again something about his own daily life, and again something he had never thought about before.

"Sleep? Hmmm, well I usually only get tired after a good fight, and then I just find whatever is close by and looks safe and comfortable. I slept on a bed once, in the Espada castles in Hueco Mundo, but I didn't like it, too fluffy." 

WC:404

GP:8

TGP:48

                An older man had been traveling along the countryside, out gathering materials for what seemed to be a macabre project.  He said nothing as he moved along, the only sounds heard being the soft footfalls of his sandals in the grass and the squeaking axle of his old wooden cart.  As he traveled, he arrived in a modern human city, the appearance of which left him in a state of awe and disbelief.

                How in the world...Just how much more has this world changed than I knew?  These buildings are colossal!  The old man’s thoughts perfectly reflected his obvious shock, and after a few moments he was unable to contain his amazement, or his voice.  “This is absolutely incredible!”  As quickly as he spoke, he clasped a hand over his face, even though he knew many, many people there wouldn’t, or couldn’t, hear him at all.  “I’m only supposed to be out for a few hours again.  I’m starting to think I’m under surveillance.”

                His self-directed musings and complaints lasted for only a moment before he began moving once more.  This situation is bothersome, though I dare not bring my complaints to anyone in charge.  I’m merely a scientist, and as far as I can tell the go-to for those few who need something from one such as myself.

                Hey, old man, stop with that already.  Your bummin’ me out with that “I’m merely” crap you’re going on about again.  His zanpakuto spirit’s voice echoed through his mind, breaking Koudai’s focus.  We’re gonna get what we need to soon enough, ya idiot.  So be patient.  Just keep buildin’ up our strength and our resources, and we’ll get from under their attentions when you’re not even paying attention yourself.

                Koudai actually grinned at the spirit’s commentary.  Why, Kawazame, were you actually trying to be reassuring?  You’ve gotten a bit soft on me, haven’t you?  The spirit scoffed at his retort, annoyed by it.  It’s rare I manage to actually get under your skin, Kawazame.  I should really bask in this moment.  Kawazame growled lightly as Koudai laughed to himself and resumed dragging his cart through the city streets.  Thank you for your concern nonetheless, Kawazame.  We’ll have the power we deserve soon enough.

                They both shared an evil-sounding chuckle as the scientist wove his way through the busy streets, taking a moment to produce a small, cylindrical device and press a button on top of it.  A nearly invisible field covered the man’s form, allowing him to disappear from more sources, including any sort of “eyes in the sky” he was so absolutely certain, to the point of unfettered paranoia, were following him.

                As he escaped the crowds, and the imaginary soldiers watching his every move, Koudai happened upon an unusual sight in an alleyway: a young human talking with a Hollow.  A lupine Hollow who seemed to actually have his guard down.  The most unusual part to him, though, was the fact that he thought he recognized the human, and in particular the human’s reiatsu.  So, in his infinite wisdom, Koudai stepped up to the duo, the only heralds of his presence for a moment were the sound of sandals on the pavement and his squeaky cart.  As he drew near, he heard the young human speak, with her voice sounding almost as familiar as her reiatsu, while the Hollow quipped about places to sleep.

                “Pardon my intrusion upon your little private conversation, but I have a simple question to ask to the young lady.”  The old man took a moment to set his hand on the girl’s shoulder, hoping the action freed enough of her face from the shadow cast by her hood.  “Do I know you from somewhere?  Your reiatsu feels...familiar.”

Word Count: 623

GP Earned: 12

(Sorry for the "slight" delay, for this post and my joining the thread.  Ended up hitting a wall over ideas.)

In a way their cities did look the same. Everything in the world seemed to be growing towards a point where there were barely any differences between the things. While she hadn’t been to too many places, the girl had watched enough television to see that big cities were alike. Different languages, foods, people, though in the end it was the same. Such a strange thing now that she thought about it. Even stranger was the fact that a Hollow was the one to have pushed her thoughts into that direction.

“I guess that in a way they do.”

Oh!

He slept outside!

Partly she felt a bit bad for him. Then again, it was a Hollow. He didn’t need a bed and a roof above his head to survive. He ate humans from time to time! She should stop thinking about him as someone like her. But she couldn’t, because he was talking to her, and he was just another living being. Different but the same just like the cities.  

Shivering from a gush of wind, Kasumi pulled up the hoody from her jacket. Mostly she didn’t get cold; then again she wasn’t wearing anything too warm. How stupid of her, not to think about it being way colder during the night than during the day. It only made sense considering the sun was nowhere to be found. And the little stars that shone so bright high above them were too far gone to provide the earth with any warmth. A good thing, otherwise there wouldn’t even be any life on this planet.

“Beds are supposed to be fluffy and warm! Though I suppose that if I had some fur I wouldn’t need so many layers of clothes and blankets hmm.”

Stopping she realized that he might take it in the wrong way.

“I didn’t mean that it’s bad. I like fur, fur is good, eh my cat is a furry ball. Though Angel is white, and really really small compared to you.”

Blinking a few times she wondered if she was making it worse.

“And Angel can’t talk..”

Before it got out of hand, she heard footsteps. Confused, Kasumi listened to another sound, something that was quite familiar, but she couldn’t seem to place it. What was that.. was there something rolling? Narrowing her eyes, she remained silent when a voice was added to the strange sound, while the steps continued. This voice..? Suddenly someone placed their hand on her shoulder. This someone was obvious the one that was asking her if he knew her. Wait a second.. Tilting her head, Kasumi’s bright blue eyes met the man she had met a while ago. The one that taught her about reiatsu and the Shinigami! As her lips curled up a broad smile appeared on her face.

“Koudai-san! What are you doing here?”

She happily exclaimed, incredibly excited at the prospect of questioning the man once again. Though after a moment she wondered.. Weren’t Shinigami and Hollows enemies? But there was no way that Koudai would hurt someone that wasn’t a mindless beast, right? Perhaps.. she should introduce them to one another, just to make sure that they wouldn’t try to engage in some bloody fight.

“This is Chainhunter, he only eats bad souls. And this is Koudai, he is a scientist.”

Avoiding the words ‘Hollow’ and ‘Shinigami’ she hoped to keep everything peaceful.

[Words: 565 – GP 11 – TGP 64]

eds were supposed to feel like you were lying on a cloud? How did anything enjoy sleeping on that? The girl’s next sentence did answer that question a bit. If someone didn't have fur Chainhunter could see how they might get cold sleeping outside. After that though the girl just started rambling on about how fur wasn't bad and somehow got to an angel who couldn't talk. With every sentence that came out of her mouth Chainhunter twisted his head a little more to the right until he felt like he was going to break his own neck from sheer confusion. So when she finally stopped for a moment he gave her the only response he could think of.

"... What?"

It was at that moment that Chainhunter heard the sounds of someone approaching. In fact this someone was already right next to them. The hollow jerked his head in the man's direction so quickly, and from such an awkward position, that he was sure he strained something. When had he let his guard down? Why had he let his guard down!? 

He didn't know who this guy was or what he was after, but his instincts were screaming "threat!" so naturally he did what any animal would do when someone sneaks up on it, he spread his arms and legs into an attack position and growled as the man put his hand on the child's shoulder. He was about to pounce this intruder who dared touch his new friend, except... she didn't seem afraid of him. In fact she seemed happy to see this stranger, like she knew him already.

He started to relax a bit when Kasumi introduced this new soul. Judging from her reaction he could at least be sure that he wouldn't have to worry about being attacked, so he abandoned his hostile position and simply stood up to his full height, intending to send a message to this "scientist" that he didn't necessarily want to kill and eat him, but he could if he had to.

"A scientist? What is that? and how do you know each other?" As he asked the questions he tried to twist his head as he usually did when wondering about something, but quickly realized that he had in fact strained something in his neck.

WC:386

GP:7

TGP:55

OOC: Hey, um, I kinda made another thread that has to have come after this chronologically in which Chainhunter didn't know what a shinigami was, so can y'all do me a favor and avoid explaining that, or using the word shinigami please? Thank you.

                Koudai laughed quietly at the Hollow's question.  "A scientist is someone who studies many things, such as drugs, the body, life, and a variety of similar subjects."  He smiled in as friendly a manner as he could, and in spite of himself still had an unusual, creepy undertone to the grin.  "And I know this kind young lady from a previous encounter.  I met her more than a few weeks ago near the wreckage of a ruined city, and at the time I was gathering...'specimens' for my work."  The scientist hooked his thumb behind him and stepped aside, revealing his specimen cart, and some fairly well-hidden objects that lurked within its shadowed confines.  "I was gathering more of my favorite research materials before I got lost and came here."  A tinge of embarrassed amusement entered his smile and his tone.  "Not sure how the hell I got here in the first place."

                The old man seemed to stare blankly ahead of him for a few moments, though in reality he was arguing with someone in his head.  It took all he had to convince this other party not to manifest in front of everyone, and this was solely because the Hollow was actually smart enough to hold a clearly-sensible conversation with Kasumi.

                After a few moments, Koudai bowed elegantly to them both.  "The dear young lady here might know me, but you do not.  I am Makkura Koudai, scientist extraordinaire.  I maintain a laboratory here in this world, and I have no intention of ever revealing its location purposefully."  The device he'd held sparked a few times and started smoking, revealing his reiatsu and his presence fully.  "Oh dear.  Now I have to go back to the drawing board on this one."

                With that, the older man casually, disinterestedly threw his broken device aside, letting it almost shatter unceremoniously against the nearest wall.  As the man moved his arms to check his uniform for something, the faintest hint of something that smelled like neither human nor soul wafted through the air.  "So, my lupine friend, who might you be?  And for that matter, what brought both you and little Miss Kasumi here to this stunningly massive city?"

                Koudai seemed to be enamored with the city around them, and in fact the look on his face all but screamed the accuracy of that sentiment.  He couldn't help but let his jaw hang open slightly as he marveled at the massive buildings.  If anything at all, the look on his face helped a fair amount at giving a pretty fair hint towards his age.

Word Count: 432

GP: 8; 20 Total

(OOC: Yeah, that's not at all a problem, Chain.  Happy to oblige your request~)

Perhaps it was a good thing that Koudai spoke before the girl did. How was she supposed to explain what a scientist was? She only knew the meaning of it, the idea behind that word, though she didn’t really know anything about their real work. Another question followed. The way they’ve met..? Recalling that incident, Kasumi thought that Koudai did a good job describing that one as well. Her eyes slid down the wooden cart behind him. The ‘vehicle’ seemed to be rather full again. She could remember his ‘specimens’ from the last time. Only thinking about it made her stomach turn in disgust. She had seen quite some things, but the sight of body parts wasn’t one of her favorite ones. Honestly? She would rather watch others fight, and even if that would bring death, it would still be far different from the collected, bloody arms and legs that had been sticking out of his cart. Shivering, the girl tried to delete the memories, though it didn’t really work, so she decided to simply distract herself with the matters at hand. Listening to their ‘conversation’, Kasumi’s eyes followed the movements of Koudai’s body as he threw something against the wall.

“What was that? Why did..”

She could sense him now. Blinking a few times in confusion, Kasumi’s eyes widened. Before it had seemed as he wasn’t even there. Now there was the natural leak, it didn’t matter how small it was, considering his ability to hide it, she could still feel it. Maybe it wasn’t even the energy, it was just.. his presence.

“Did you hide yourself with that?”

Was this the secret to how he had approached them so quietly? Or was this man simply too skilled to be detected by either of them? Curiously walking over the pieces of whatever it had been, the silvery haired human crouched down to study them. She wasn’t sure if it was safe to touch them, hence she refrained from taking any of it into her hands. Did he made this himself, or was this something all of those Shinigami used? While she was curious, Kasumi knew that perhaps this wasn’t the best time to talk about it. Chainhunter seemed to be alright with the man’s presence, and the girl didn’t want to upset either of them by saying something unfitting.

“I was stargazing from that roof top over there.”

Pointing towards the building she had been standing next to before crossing the alley, Kasumi grinned. She did like to watch the stars from time to time, they intrigued her. There wasn’t much she could do about them being so attracting to her. It was something like.. a bee being attracted by some sweet scent. Unsure if that was a decent comparison, the girl didn’t say anything else about the stars, and simply continued with the story of how she met the kind Hollow.

“I’ve heard something and came down to see, there I found Chainhunter. His 'meal' had tried to hit a woman! I’m actually glad that he ate him..”

An angry frown appeared on her face again when she thought about the jerk that tried to attack the woman even while being dead. A good thing that the Hollow had decided to feed on him, hopefully he didn’t taste too bad. Kasumi didn’t mind Chainhunter’s choice of meal in the slightest. She would rather have Chainhunter eat the mean guy, the evil one, than him being hungry and some idiot dwelling around the town, harassing people. Even when they didn’t know that they were harassed, the thought still annoyed the girl beyond anyone’s imagination. If she was honest with herself, then the girl didn’t even know why she was so annoyed with it. Why did it bother her that much? Perhaps she could help Chainhunter with tracking down the ‘bad’ guys. Or simply threaten the bad souls she would meet with them being eaten by Hollows if they didn’t behave?

[Words: 661 – GP 13 – TGP 77]

Ooc: Alright ^-^

The scientist's explanation was a bit difficult to follow. He used some big words Chainhunter hadn't heard before, and he didn't talk like anyone Chainhunter had met before. Of course considering that Chainhunter's usual company consisted of literal mindless brutes, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The hollow still managed to understand the main point though; scientists figured out how things work, and judging from the contents of the cart that he pointed to, this one was figuring out dead bodies... it was while this Koudai Makkura was introducing himself as a scientist extraordinaire that Chainhunter decided that scientists were weird.

"What's so interesting about dead bodies? They're dead."

Before he could get an answer however something in the scientist's hand started to flash and smoke as if it was an attack being prepared. Furthermore no sooner than the smoke began Chainhunter realized that he could now sense the scientist's power, and it was rather impressive. Obviously this seeming spike in reiatsu combined with the sparking palm made Chainhunter instinctively prepare to attack as well, but instead of throwing or shooting something out of the device Koudai simply threw it into a wall after muttering something about a board. Then he asked Chainhunter to introduce himself as if nothing had ever happened. Definitely weird. It took a few moments for the hollow to process what had just happened and that a battle had in fact not started before he was able to ease back into his previous position and answer the question.

"She just told you, I'm Chainhunter, and I was hunting. I'm always hunting. I was just eating a meal when she found me and started asking questions."

Chainhunter wasn't sure that the scientist had heard any of his and Kasumi's story, or if he had completely zoned out with staring at the city. He had just been walking through this city less than a minute ago, but now he stared with such awe that it would seem he had never been to a human city in his life. Chainhunter found the whole thing a bit disturbing. As a matter of fact, Chainhunter found everything about Koudai a bit disturbing.

WC:361

GP:7

TGP:62

OOC: Sorry I've been so slow lately. I started working for the summer and it's been... busy to say the least. I'll try to start posting more but I make no promises, and I apologize in advance if that doesn't happen.

                It had been a while since he'd last spoken with Kasumi, so this little reunion brought the old man a bit of relief.  "That device was a clear failure.  It was a prototype device I'd created to mask reiatsu, but clearly it doesn't last long enough to be of any real use to anyone."  He pulled a long, thin pipe out of his "jacket", momentarily revealing an almost-frightening array of hypodermic needles with the jacket, and lit up the pipe's contents, taking a moment to breathe a thin cloud of smoke high into the air.  "If I can get it to work, I'll be sure to sell copies to members of the Onmitsukido."  Then he grinned almost weirdly cheerfully to Kasumi.  In all honesty, the old man was simply relieved the little human hadn't had the misfortune of running across any violent Hollows again.  "So yes, I did indeed hide my presence with it.  It would be unwise to create something for another and not field test it."

                As he listened to her explain what she and the Hollow were doing, Koudai couldn't help but smile pleasantly and laugh quietly as he tied a gourd to his sash.  "So this fellow actually ate a Soul that deserved that sort of punishment?  I'd like to think that his presence would make him a benefit my superiors couldn't ignore."  Another skyward puff of smoke precluded his next statement.  "It's nice to see that some people can hold onto their morals after they've passed on and become something else.  The world could stand more Hollows like you."

                Koudai could tell from Chainhunter's body language that the Hollow thought something was off with the old scientist.  This amused him to no end, though he also wisely felt that agitating the Hollow in any way might be a glorious mistake on his part.  "Dead bodies can hold information, my Hollow friend."  Koudai's grin took on a decidedly fear-inducing quality, despite the expression seeming friendly at the exact same time.  "A corpse can hold the genetic information regarding who they were in life, and what power they might've had, if any at all.  They also hold a remarkable amount of information regarding their cause of death, a lot of times.  Spiritual power left behind by any being with it is like leaving behind your fingerprints."  He shook his head as the smile he wore grew more.  "To say nothing of the means by which these spiritual beings actually killed this person or that."

                The old scientist laughed, rather pleasantly, at the statement Chainhunter had made.  "Little miss Kasumi is like that.  Always curious, that one.  It's almost precious, really.  Human children always seem to brighten my day with their unending curiosity."  He looked around again, still vaguely enamored with the scale of the city around them.  "Part of what makes mortals so interesting, I guess.  Well, that and their incredible scale for construction.  This town is absolutely enormous."

                It was finally his turn to be curious.  "So, Chainhunter, are all mortal towns like this one now?  Or is this one a special case?"  He grinned sheepishly before continuing, even taking a moment to take a drink from the gourd.  "You see, I'm well over one thousand years old, and I haven't seen this world in a very long time.  Towns were hardly this grand in my youth."  It didn't hurt that the man's eyes were almost sparkling, like he were gazing upon the most wondrous thing in the world, as he looked over the city that enamored him so.  "This is just too stunning, too amazing to me."

Word Count: 602

GP Earned: 12; 32 total

Dead bodies were dead.

She giggled a bit, when Chainhunter said that. Somehow she hadn’t given all of this too much thought. Koudai’s explanation that he needed his ‘samples’ to study them and to get information from them, had made sense to her the last time they had met. Never had she thought about how exactly he was planning to do that. How did he get any information from someone that couldn’t talk anymore, perhaps by cutting them open? Kasumi expected him to examine the traces on the bodies, not only the physical ones though. Now that she was trying to understand it, the girl wondered what other possible traces could have been left on those body parts except from the obvious exterior ones. Hence that the moment the scientist started to explain why he was gathering them, Kasumi’s interest multiplied and she focused on the man. She was all ears, noting that reiatsu left ‘prints’. Honestly, it sounded logical. If one could ‘sense’ others, even see their reiatsu when it was manifested, when it was dense enough.. Then why wouldn’t it leave tracks? It could easily damage things. Recalling the female Shinigami and the way she so easily manipulated her energy, Kasumi’s eyes widened in awe again. She needed to practice that technique a bit more, get better at it, because she had promised to do so and she wouldn’t fail her ‘sensei’.

For a few moments the girl was lost in her own thoughts. Though when she heard her name, Kasumi snapped out of it and looked up towards the man. Oh.. well yea. She was curious indeed. She hadn’t always been like that, but this last year, and mostly last few months had been a change. Studying the broken device she shrugged before walking back to where she had previously stood. Koudai was talking about the city now. Well it was big, it was different that some villages she had seen, but..

Wait whut?

“You are how old?!”

Kasumi’s bright blue eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets at this news. How could he possibly be that old? The girl couldn’t wrap her mind around that. What about the other Shinigami? Where they all over a thousand years old? Confused and excited about this new information, the girl waited for her answer. The question about all of his kind being that old was dangling on her lips, but she didn’t want to disturb this ‘peace’. Perhaps Chainhunter didn’t know Shinigami, and perhaps he did. He seemed kind, and drama was something unnecessary. So instead she found something else to question.

“How were the towns in your youth then? Were there.. only little wooden structures?”

Tilting her head towards Chainhunter, she wondered what the towns were during his childhood. Before she knew, the girl was already posing different questions to the Hollow.

“And how old are you? I’m 11. Did you grow up in Hueco Mundo? Were you a.. small you, you know when growing up?”

A look of adoration appeared on the girl’s face when she imagined that the big wolf-creature had been a small pup-like being at some point in its life. That would have been so cute! Though if the other Hollow were mean, that would have also been very dangerous for him, this caused her to wonder if he would have made it this far on his own. Did he have a family perhaps, someone that helped him?

Getting bored of standing, the girl climbed up a small stairs at the side of the building and put her elbows on her knees while her chin rested in her palms. As her feet swung back and forth beneath her, she had a perfect view on both Koudai and Chainhunter. Noticing the bottle, her eyes lit up again. Was it water? Was it something else, like juice? Or some substance they didn’t have in this world?

“What are you drinking Koudai-san?”

[Words: 656 – GP 13 - ||Reset GP from last post|| TGP 26]