Post by Minamoto Kotoba on Oct 12, 2014 16:36:09 GMT -5
A simple, but unfortunate, fact of the universe is thus: Prejudices exist for every race, every group of people, and have done for eternities. Gays are "unnatural" according to some (which is rich as those people tend to drive cars, which are as unnatural as it comes), races believe they're superior over others, humans are considered unenlightened fools by many of the spirit races, if not outright food. These prejudices often came from truth, but unfortunately they were almost always blown so far out of proportion it was hard to tell where the belief actually began.
Quincy, as a whole, had a really, really bad rep when it came to the spirit world, and unlike some myths where the origin was shrouded in mystery there really wasn't much of a challenge in seeing why that little prejudice was still held in wide belief. Because of the way that several more "extreme" individuals acted towards the spirit world, people always seemed to think that Quincy were neo-nazi monsters who wanted to kill every single spirit who entered the human realm. Of course, the fact that the current king actually was a neo-nazi really didn't help that opinion, but just because a small minority of the race was like that didn't mean that every single person who belonged to that race was like that.
Haru, for example, couldn't have given less of a shit about where people came from. In his life, he had learned that people were a threat because of the way that they thought and acted rather than where they came from. There were plenty of good Soul Reapers and, weirdly enough for a race that was created from the broken husks of emotionally sick people, plenty of good arrancars, just like there were plenty of evil fullbringers and Quincy. Unlike some people, and despite what his brother thought, he wasn't just going to pull a weapon on someone simply because they'd already died once. Still, that didn't mean that he didn't believe that hollows were more likely to go rogue than other races.
As aforementioned, the race survived off of a steady supply of people who were emotionally sick - hell, every single member of that race actually had something carved out in their soul that defined what kind of a fucked up person they were going to be, whether it be something as weird as luck, something as honoring as Sacrifice or something as disgusting as rage or gluttony. It was because of his understanding of these facts that, when he noticed the spirit presence of a hollow in the city, Haru almost turned 180' on his heel and started heading towards the source of the spirit energy.
A long time ago, almost a lifetime ago, he had studied the ability to sense reiatsu over long distances and actually being able to see the manifestation of people's souls under a very powerful young man, someone who was currently serving as a knight and keeping his estate warm in Italy whilst he performed this mission, and even with this training he'd only just noticed the pressure. This meant one of two things. Either this person was highly adept at hiding their spiritual pressure from other people (which was unlikely, there were very few people who were practiced enough to actually be able to hide from him) or they had only just entered this realm.
Unfortunately, whilst the second answer was far preferable, Haru couldn't help but notice that he hadn't seen a garganta. After the incursion, a lot of the buildings around here that would have blocked his sight of a garganta had been completely demolished, so he found it strange that he hadn't noticed it. Well, Haru thought, forcing the same smile that he had been wearing almost every single day since he had arrived back in the land of his birth, , that's another incentive to find this hollow, no matter what his personality is. When I find it, I can ask it exactly how it remained undetected. There are some buildings around here that cut off my view, though that seems unlikely at this point. Either way, if it's an ally it'll probably be willing to admit it openly. If not, then I have an added reason to beat the bloody pulp out of it - get a little answer before it runs back to Hueco Mundo with its tail between his legs.
Haru couldn't help but notice the amount of meetings he'd had recently where he'd been taken off guard. He'd not grown up around Karakura town so maybe it was just something that he was going to have to get used to whilst he was on this job, but was it really this commonplace for spirits to just appear out of the ether? It happened multiple times per day. Hell, if it had been a Soul Reaper, he'd have just ignored it and thought it was some attempt at a rebuilding effort after their cockup had allowed the human defenses to be overrun without any assistance and had left hundreds of spiritually gifted people to be lifted off-world for god knows what reason.
It was because of this surprise visit that Haru wasn't wearing the usual clothes that he would chose to meet a potential enemy in - He'd actually been about to go meet some of hie fellow teachers out in town for some drinks, trying to get to know the people that he'd be working with undercover, and that meant that he was wearing clothes much more fitting for a social gathering than a battlezone. A silver suit jacket, a pair of white linen trousers, and a black buttoned up shirt. It still screamed Quincy and stood out from the crowd, but it wasn't as free-fitting or beneficial to movement as he would have liked it to be. Hell, he didn't even have his throwing knives or Naginata on him.
He still had Israfel, tucked under his shirt in its cross form, but that was rather a final solution choice. His hand-to-hand skills had long since dropped off for his preference in more long-distance methods. That being said, he did have one little trick in his sleeve, or rather tucked into his belt. He'd managed to pass off a Seele Schneider as just a simple form of accessory, and only other Quincy would be able to understand what he was actually wearing around his belt. He doubted an arrancar, even one who was as mysterious as this one, would be able to tell what it was.
With that false smile plastered on his face, a hand slipping into his trouser pocket under his jacket and the other one playing with a twenty yen coin, he continued moving towards the pressure's focal point. Hopefully he'd encounter this guy before anyone else did. This place was already somewhat of a tip, he really didn't need to have a huge fight tearing it even further asunder than it already was.