Le goût [Hisui]

Weeks, and then months had passed with no such sign of any of the Fourth or Second's hounds sent to track her down. Her extensive network of information hadn't failed her in the slightest-- Minamoto, that fucking Shirikodama-- had swooped in just as she had predicted and taken over.
Scavenger, she had muttered at the news, fuckin' vulture picking at the bones of something he couldn't hope to ever understand or embrace fully. A brute like that belonged in the violence and bloodshed of the Fifth Division, where he could pretend all he wanted that he was a respectable man rather the monster that any intelligent being saw him for.

Science was not for the heartless, and Hollow breeds aside, the man seemed to lack one and filled ego and temper in its place.

Ahh, but she envied him in that; cut the heart and the emotions behind it and leave nothing more than the echoing shell behind. Pure, instinctive, and automatic in movement, thought, and process.

A flicker of her kinsman's energy was heavy in the bar, the weight of her gaze upon her back as whoever the curious imp might have been poked and prodded with sight alone.

"Another, miss?" Dubious in tone, she wordlessly offered her glass for refilling, slid a crisp note across the counter and waited while it disappeared without a trace. Long, elegant fingers with neatly painted pale green fingersnails rounded at the tips toyed with the condesenation drippling down the glass. Traced little patterns in its misty depths and wiped them away as the presence vanished and reappeared again. If she weren't mildly curious about the girl-child giving her the intense "notice me, don't notice me" gaze, she'd have stopped the game a good while ago and abandoned ship to the next worthwhile disguise.

A candy wrapped in white cellophane crackled and skipped as it bounced across the scratched top-- Ezekiel would have taken better care of his bar-- and the colorful fruit on the wrapper, complete with top hat and stick figure legs, offered her an idea of its flavor.

Apricot.

Jade green eyes flicked from candy to the intense gaze beside her. A greeting, dry and somewhat sheepish sounding, came from the child far too young to be in a bar's lips.

Haaa.

"You're far from home, snowflake, did your little master send you here to find me?" Didn't exactly greet her in return, but the weight of her eyes-- exhausted and shadowed-- still held a touch of humor as she addressed her the same way she had prior.



Winced visibly but resisted the urge to snap her hand to her side as another piece of her snapped into place. Took a long pull from something sweet and burned her throat all the way down instead.

Breathed.

"Little young to be drinking, aren't you?" She patted her pocket, looked for the box of cigarettes she carried with her. This bar was done for now, she'd need to head out before someone else grew too curious and tracked the girl down.

Pity, but the bartender still couldn't make a decent Sex on the Beach without fucking it up with too much grenadine.

--

OOC: NPCing an old character and don't feel like fussing with the acct. No GP is being awarded/collected and that's how I want it.

Kasumi chose to ignore the little jab. She was too eager to know why Hisui was here and why she thought that Kiriko would send her, or anyone else, to find her. And an argument wouldn't bring her far in solving this little mystery. A little ridge appeared above the girl's snowy eyebrows as they slid towards one another and formed a tiny frown. Curiosity made place for concern when Hisui emptied another glass.

“I didn't know that they were looking for you, Hisui-san.”

Snowflake
It's been forever since someone had last called her that way. Something about it melted just enough of Kasumi's stubbornness to prevent her from blindly throwing a fit about her age. She wasn't that young, and she hadn't even been actually drinking. Besides, the drinks here sucked. Why did the woman even order so many of them? They were disgusting!

Unable to prevent her eyes from rolling she let out a sigh in the redhead's direction.
“Old enough.”

Okay, that was a lie.
So what?
It wasn't like the man behind the bar had cared. Beer wasn't all that strong to start with.
Nervously playing with another candy she eyed Hisui from out of the corner of her eye. Somehow she looked tired. Unless of course Kasumi's memories were messing with her head and the scientist had always looked so jaded. Though, somehow she didn't think that's been the case during their first meeting.

“You were the one to make my file, weren't you? I read a piece when I woke up. Quite interesting and very very handy when you lack most of your memories. Then Kiriko-san took me from the Fourths hands and ever since I haven't seen any of the information you guys had on me.”

Perhaps that was a bit too much to start out with. She could already see something resembling annoyance on Hisui's face but ignored it while producing an insecure smile. There was no way that she would let her go just like that, not after having the luck to meet her here. That's why she quickly slipped from her seat when Hisui moved, and after taking the opportunity to grab a couple more candy from the jar, she followed the older Shinigami outside. Step by step. Kasumi gravitated around the woman while forming the questions that she wanted answered. First of all there was the look of concern in her blue eyes.

“What happened to you?”

Her gaze followed Hisui's figure, and so did her feet.

“If you don't want me to tell anyone, I won't.”

Chances of Kiriko asking about any of this were slim. Others didn't matter enough – Kasumi could simply ignore them if needed. Tearing the wrapper from one of the candy she popped it in her mouth. Green apple, sour and sweet. Kasumi liked that one already. Not seeing a garbage can anywhere near she hid the colourful wrapping in her pocket with the rest of the taken candy. It was time to prod some more. Carefully twirling around her old acquaintance she thoughtfully rolled the candy in her mouth before firing the next question.

“What are you doing here?”


Words: 526 – GP 10 || TGP 28

Her mouth curved ever so faintly into a brief smile at the little frown on the pale haired child's face. "Someone usually is; whether or not I want them to be is the better question to ask." Another pull, finished off the drink, and grimaced at the sickly sweet cherry flavor on her tongue.

Fell silent and eyed the girl's powerful soul carefully. Weighed what she saw before her and sighed. Ahh, the potential of humanity and its lack of time; would but Seireitei actually take advantage of the human soul and experiment on them properly rather than regard them as inferior. The discoveries and possibilities of how something so small and fleeting an existence could manifest and grow exponentially in such a drastically short period of time and its application toward the longer lived Shinigami were practically endless.

But no, let them focus on isolating themselves further from the world. Believe themselves so vastly superior an existence that they set themselves up for further failure and destruction. Stagnation before evolution-- one might have claimed to call it Stability... but since when was a soul anything but chaotic and fluctuating in its evolution?

"I'm over six hundred years old, snowflake, and even I'm not old enough to be doing half the shit I do." Another slight smile that quickly faded like cigarette smoke into the night air.

Ahh, came to ask the easy questions. Sure. Why not? No harm done in that regard. "Nothin' much in the way of it, kid. Most of the data was from your human days; you're not human anymore and it makes jack shit now." Just like pretty much everything else life had to offer, really. "You wanna know somethin' 'bout your time as a human that you told me, ask and I'll tell you if you really need to know."

Sent a tired look the curious child's way. Poor dumb kid, had no idea the amount of trouble she was in for. "You're better off not knowing, by the way. Let the past be buried in the past and focus on the future that lies ahead."

And there went the next question. She lit the cigarette and inhaled.

Held her breath. Loosed a stream of smoke that spun and coiled in an odd pattern about her form. "Wouldn't matter even if you did tell someone, snowflake; I'll be gone when we're done here until you manage to catch me again-- if you manage to." Annoyed. Why the hell were the few Shinigami she chose to actually acknowledge and assist so goddamn pushy about the whole concern thing?

Yes, she was healing. Yes, she wasn't acting entirely right.

No; she didn't need or want their fucking help. And no, she was not interested in returning to a society slowly decaying beneath the weight of its own ego. Certainly not back to a division that lost itself to grandeur and stupidity rather than what it was supposed to be.

"I'm doing the same thing I've always done; whatever the hell I want." Summoning the cheeky arrogance she was known for was harder than usual, but the dry sarcasm in her voice and the half-smirk on her lips would have to make up for the lack of energy in her steps and body language.

Fucking sword needed to finish repairing already; this shit was getting old.

Completely ignored her inquiry about what had happened, however. Nobody's business but her own. The less they knew, the less opportunity someone would have to put pieces of a puzzle together that didn't need to be completed. "What do you want, snowflake? You were lookin' for me for a reason, most of you usually are. If it's an order you want, let's talk shop and go separate ways-- you don't need to be seen around me if things are goin' down the way I think they are."

Flicked the ash off the butt of the cigarette and kept going. Straight, take a left up on that street there, and make another left. Couldn't detect anyone else in the immediate vicinity, but that didn't mean they weren't watching.

Better to be safe than sorry, after all.

Had to keep the little idiot child next to her safe in what small ways she could; the less Kasumi knew, the less those who interrogated her would be able to get from her.

Good ol' unpredictable Hisui.

Due to some reason Hisui felt the same way about the past as Miyuki did. The idea of letting things be made Kasumi as nervous as trying to figure them out. She wasn't sure what she truly wanted and before she could make a decision Hisui had already moved on to another topic. Things always had to go quickly with the red haired scientist. The woman was frequently busy with something that interested her, and ninety-nine percent of the time it had nothing to do with you. Still, she appeared to be open for business with Kas, and that made the girl really happy. The warm feeling translated into a large smile, her eyes lit up a little as she turned to face the woman.

“You should show me how to do that.. do whatever I want.”

Not that Kasumi had been too restricted in her movements. There were way more things to do now that she wasn't in the Academy anymore. Sadly enough that didn't mean that she could do whatever she wanted. There were missions, then there was the studying, the patrol and some other tedious and unnecessary things she wouldn't have minded to drop. Everything in life appeared to come in pairs, and with the advantages that she had gained by becoming a part of the Second she got an equal amount of disadvantages. However, that didn't mean that she wanted to go back to the Academy.

That place was the past now.
A short past.

“Actually, yes, I wanted to ask you to help me with some stuff. There are two things that I need. I've heard about you being really good at custom made Gigai, and I would want to have one.”

They kept on walking and soon Kasumi didn't have the slightest idea of where the hell they were. Not that she cared, she would find her way back one way or another. It just felt odd to be somewhere she hadn't been before and trusting a person she could barely remember.

Snowflake
The nick had really done it.

Feeling through her pockets Kasumi took out a usb stick. It was a colourful little thing that screamed attention: red and golden curls on white background. A little kanji was visible on the side, and Kasumi felt proud of having found one that matched her name.

“The second thing is.. a motorbike. I managed to get the blueprints from a friend but she.. eh- she isn't around to help me with creating it. And.. well, I can't make it myself.”

Admitting that without Ace she didn't have the brains nor the equipment Kasumi stared at her feet for a couple of longs moments. She had never liked asking for help, and it was highly unlikely that that part of her would ever change.

“It's supposed to be reiryoku fuelled.”

The stick with the blueprints changed hands, and Kasumi gave the older Shinigami a hopeful look.

“With my reiryoku signature imprinted on it, it would only work for me. We had thought about giving it the ability to disperse too, but back then it wasn't a requirement because I was eh .. - alive. That's why that part isn't finished yet.”

She bit her lip. This was a lot.
'They said she was a genius, time to see if those were more than just rumours.'

“Andddd youuu hmm, you were able to create dispersing Gigai, right?”


Words: 570 – GP 11 || TGP 39

Her cigarette nearly slipped from her lips at the younger child's innocent comment. Reached up, flicked the ashes off the butt, and exhaled after a moment. Studied the patterns that swirled in the cool night air. Glanced to one side at the smile on the young face.

Should she...?

Nah, not yet. Tempting though it was, the brat hadn't done anything to deserve getting chased off-- yet.

She merely offered a half shrug in response to her suggestion. Saved her initial impulse for later on when it would matter the most-- or when the girl forgot all about it and it came back to bite her in the ass.

Embers flickered, died in the night as she replaced the cigarette between her lips. Listened to what the girl had to say, what lay beneath it. Grew annoyed at the flickers of apparitions at the corner of her eye around the girl.

Given how destroyed everything else about her still happened to be, that should have been one of the first fucking things to go. Reached out and plucked the stick from her smaller fingers with polished nails standing out in contrast to the scarlet, gold, and white stick. Quirked one cherry red brow as the wind stirred her long, straight hair into movement.

Blue eyes narrowed. Gaudy little thing, wasn't it? Probably to make sure people overestimated what the contents were even with the name attached to it. "Why come to me instead of the Fourth? Don't tell me those idiots haven't found a halfway competent replacement yet." Her tone implied she knew that was probably exactly the case and felt no shame for it.

Pity how they would settle for less than quality work, after all, gigai were just tools-- why have nice tools when you could just mass produce the piece of shit template and throw it away like last night's used condom and one's sense of dignity after a disappointing lay?

Maybe she wasn't done drinking yet after all.

"Motorbike?" Her expression turned wistful, something breaking through that cranky, devil-may-care facade of hers. Mechanical aspects were never her forte, Ezekiel had always been the one to go to for such things. Had taught her something in the way of experimenting with them and tinkering with things that she'd thought best left to others. Had gotten her interested and enjoying the otherwise irritating process-- not too dissimilar in a lot of ways from her own specialty, really, just a different kind of anatomy when one thought about it.

Ahh, but Ezekiel wasn't there anymore.

Fragile, broken Ezekiel; barely able to eke out the shadow of an existence after her damn fool fuck up.



No. She wasn't done drinking yet. She wasn't done drinking at all.

But the twist of making it reiryoku fueled rather than anything else...

"C'mon kiddo, let's stick this in the proper slot and see what your little friend came up with." Ignored the voice attributing her genius to simple rumor like she had well practiced doing for the last several hundred years.

Took three left turns and then a right, circled back around the block a second time and hit a second right and down a set of stairs towards some sort of bar. Opened the door with a key and let herself in through the back door. Trash was piled high on either side, stinking and fetid, but a clever mask for those who might have gone looking for a more 'appropriate' hideout someone like her would have been in. Closed and locked the door behind the other Shinigami and hit the light switch.

A cold blue light swept through the room, over their bodies-- an eerie, uncomfortable feeling over both, given the Quincy energy and finger wide panels of Quincy made silver that came down and sealed the room off entirely from entrance or exit.

Only when the final shutter fell and locked into place did the Shinigami Kasumi was familiar with emerge from her gigai's body. Dressed in the usual white button down blouse and black dress slacks, her shoulder length wavy auburn hair was pulled back into its ever present ponytail and her glasses still perched upon her nose. She was thinner than before, still moved as if she were in a good deal of pain with slow and deliberate motions. The shadows were even more apparently beneath her eyes and it looked as if she hadn't slept for a good, long while.

"Don't worry about the silver; I'll pull it up when it's time for you to leave." Slipped the stick into an open USB slot and began tapping a series of keys to open the set of files necessary to access the plans.

Small wonder Hisui hadn't been found yet; she'd managed to make some sort of connection with the hated Quincy to get a security system of her own put in to prevent some nosy busybodies from tracking her down.

"Gigai aren't an issue, I can make one of those in my sleep. You want a one use only gigai or one that'll just disperse into something small when you exit it?" Could turn it into a piece of candy for her. She'd just have to eat the fucking thing in order to get "into" the gigai. Could just have her do a reiryoku signature on it to make the stupid thing expand into its true form. Might be easier that way.

Shard of her rib jabbed sharply into a lung.

Swore profusely under her breath and reached up with one hand, the other still clicking furiously on the keyboard, and allowed a flash of gold light heavily shot through with jade green energy sweep into her body. Chased the fragment out of her lung and away from the damaged tissue. Sealed the hole in the organ itself and muttered darkly to herself in an old, long forgotten language.

Frowned at the plans and diagrams spread out before her.

Prototype would be needed, she could see where basing it on human level technology and heavily modifying it would be a necessity. Felt her lips curve into a smile. "You should keep it as a solid physical object; run an asshole or two over in Seireitei. Betcha the higher ups would shit their fundoshi over the sight."

Riding a motorcycle through Seireitei would be fantastic, she was sorry she'd never thought of the concept before. Could call that favor in from the same Quincy who'd modified her little hideouts to have him work over the parts a bit and really piss off some people back in Seireitei. "Doable. May need to call someone in to help me with it, mechanics aren't my thing, but I should have an idea or two on how to make sure it'll run here on Earth and in Seireitei-- especially if the fuel is your personal energy."

Leaned heavily against the desk as she turned around and regarded the girl in front of her. "Let's talk price, snowflake; whatcha got for me as payment?"

Let the game begin.

They were walking circles around the block, Kasumi was pretty sure of that. The odd green door on her left had been the one to give it away. It took the girl quite some willpower not to question just why they were doing walking rounds. Nobody appeared to be near from what she could see, and she couldn't sense anyone either. To Kas it looked a bit like a waste of time, but she didn't want to annoy Hisui and risk being rejected by posing too many questions. Staying quiet she followed around another corner. The questions itched and Kasumi bit her tongue, that's when they finally arrived at the .. dump?

Never in her life had Kasumi seen so much trash gathered in one place. The trash was terrible, it was surprising that there were no flies circling the cans. She didn't understand how Hisui didn't throw it all out. Carefully dodging the stinky mess she gravitated behind the scientist while trying to breathe as little as possible.

Narrowing her eyes against the chilly lights she tried not to blink too much. The place was everything but inviting, and Kas wondered if Hisui actually lived here. Perhaps being used to all types of labs had made the woman immune to impersonal spaces. When the panels came down Kasumi jumped. Her eyes darted from one side to the other making it impossible for her to hide her paranoia. Of course the redhead had to comment and Kas simply gave her an indignant sigh. For a moment she was about to say something rude but managed to shut up before ruining Hisui's mood.

'A lot of work, right? Keeping things to yourself.'

Vör just had to be an ass about it. Sometimes her spirit seemed to enjoy bullying her. The laughter inside of Kasumi's head continued, it was probably even louder now. Kasumi rolled her eyes while looking through some papers as the stick was being plugged in.

“Yeah, something small. .. or something that wouldn't be noticed if it's there.”

Forgetting all about being angry Kasumi reappeared next to Hisui with a small object in the palm of her hands. A questioning look toward the woman and she put it down on the desk, leaving it undamaged. At first she thought that the swearing was directed at her, but soon figured that Hisui was talking to herself more or less. Well, actually, Kasumi wasn't even sure if she had been cursing, but the tone gave her a good idea of what might have been said.

“Are you alright?”
Concern replaced her effervescence again.

“Hitting people seems like.. a bad idea.”

Though, she had to admit that the idea of speeding through the Seireitei streets sounded awesome. It was a roller coaster ride, Kasumi bounced from Hisui's left to her right side with excitement dripping from her presence. A part of her was still worried about the redhead being hurt.. or drunk, but as long as the woman didn't want to talk about it there wasn't much that Kas could do for her.

Half-hanging over the woman's shoulder she watched the blueprints. They had worked on it so long ago that Kasumi couldn't remember the most of it. Another reason for her lack of understanding might be that Ace had done most of the work. Kasumi wasn't even sure how she had been able to bribe the Quincy into it. There was the possibility that she had turned it into a challenge – Ace never backed down. But Kas did, when Hisui turned around she took a step back.

Oh.. payment.. right.
She would have forgotten all about that part but Hisui didn't let her.

“Well.. I got something.. somewhere..”

That was a bad start. Kasumi felt through her pockets again, looking for a small pile of papers. Taking them out she handed them to Hisui with a crooked smile.

“Those are stocks.” The kid cheerfully elaborated with flailing arms. “The receipts for about 24 percent of the shares.” This probably didn't make any sense to the scientist, and Kasumi decided to tell her the full story.

“During my life as a human I've been adopted twice. The first time a woman by the name Alexandra Grant had taken me beneath her wing. When she disappeared I've inherited all of her belongings, including the corporation that she had. Later the P.R.I.S.M. got absorbed by Vigilance but I've been able to track a couple of people and get to know some things. That's a part of the share I hold.”

Being stationed in the human world from time to time did have its advantages.

“They make lots of things that range from medicine to chemicals and if you dig deeper you'll stumble upon high technology things and even weapons. Not that that's of any importance to you. The company is a limited liability company, so you can get your dividend through those papers without giving your name. It's anonymous.”

With a bit of messing around Hisui could probably change the name from Kas' to her own, especially now that the situation about Kasumi being dead – yet still around – was causing some confusion.

“It's doable, like the motorbike.”
She pushed, but something about Hisui was telling Kas that this might not be enough.

“Oh, I could offer you something else too. Though, that would be a one time thing.”
Some people might be unhappy with Kas talking so openly about the prison, but the girl really wanted an elegant version of a Kawasaki Ninja that ran on reiryoku.

“If you ever end up in the Maggot's Nest I'll personally get you out. By the time Kiriko-san knows, you'll be gone and the consequences are on me.”
Kiriko was going to kill her..
'At times like these I wouldn't even blame her.'


Words: 967 – GP 19|| TGP 58

"Could tie it to your signature, reiatsu activated gigai. How good is your kido now?" Abrupt question, not sure why it was relevant but it'd require an answer all the same.

Maybe if she tied it like that and bound it carefully...

Might just work better than she'd initially thought.

Didn't bother looking at the fair haired teenager as she dropped her hand from her side back to the keyboard. "Never better." Short answer. Obviously a lie.

A wry quirk of her lips upward. "Depends on who you decide is worth running over. Even bad ideas have their merit."

Quirked her brow up at the girl's lack of preparation. Fought the urge to laugh at her as she began searching her pockets for something, anything that might work. Reached into her own pocket and withdrew one of the long white sticks, lit it with a cupped hand and a brief flare of power. Inhaled, swore mentally at the sharp pain, and exhaled.

Her expression said to 'go on', and listened to the story carefully. Frowned at the tale-- small wonder that kid had ended up dead and in Seireitei's hands-- and contemplated the use. "Word of advice kid? Start with a low ball and gradually escalate your offerings." What the hell were they even teaching the new recruits in Second nowadays?

Back in her day, the 'art' of negotiation had been the first thing next to how to keep one's damn mouth shut no matter what was done.

Paused at the mention of the place she shouldn't have known about. Her eyes narrowed, darkened. "And why would someone as young and new to the Seireitei such as you know about Maggot's Nest, Kasumi?" No nickname, actually used the girl's name as she unfolded her arms and closed the distance between them.

Leaned over her. "Even if Kiriko didn't kill you, she'd have to order your imprisonment and execution; no one gets pardoned or loosed from Maggot's Nest without a very damn good reason."

Her eyes were an odd gold color, contrasted greatly to the green they were supposed to. "Do you really think a gigai and a motorbike are worth the price of your life?"

“I'm quite good at Bakudo.”

Of course being good at something was relative. Kasumi studied the space around them and figured that with Hisui walking around the area the way she did the place had to be protected. Good. Now she wouldn't need to worry about someone detecting her reiatsu when casting the Bakudo. She really hoped that she remembered the incantation. Dealing with the red head as she would make fun of her, and knowing Hisui she would, wasn't something Kasumi looked forward to.

“I'll just show you.”

She mumbled, and added the incantation without waiting for the scientist's reply. Light blue lines of energy shot over the ground and towards the ceiling. They formed corners and ribs before the space between them coloured blue too, and became a bit transparent. Bakudō #73. Tozanshō. Woah, it took her way more effort to maintain the barrier than she would like to admit. It gnawed at her energy as it glowed around the two Shinigami. A couple of seconds later Kasumi released it, trying to look all calm and collected. It appeared that she would need to practice the higher spells a bit more, if she wanted for them to be efficient in battles then they would have to come natural, like Shunkō did.

Starting out small, check, offer more later on, check. A shame that it was too late now. Kas nodded, wanting to show that.. she would take her advice? Admittedly, this was a bit strange, but Hisui didn't appear to wish Kasumi anything bad.

“Initiation?”

She widely grinned, obviously joking. Then their gazes met. Something about Hisui had changed and the look she was given made her nervous. Perhaps mentioning the Nest had been a bad idea. Kasumi's eyes grew wider with every step that Hisui took, and soon she had to tilt her head back to be able to see the woman's facial expression. There was something ominous about the jade-green eyes.

“You would be the one leaving without a good reason.. I- I know she'll be mad at me, but.. I think that – that we should be able to find a hmm a reason for you to leave.”

She fell silent, but only for a moment.

“Kiriko-san wouldn't execute me.”

It would be really really bad, but Kasumi honestly believed that Kiriko would find a way to hide Kasumi's mistakes. Or.. put her in the Maggot's Nest in Hisui's place. The white haired kid cringed at the thought.

“Don't get caught?”
She hopefully blurted out with eyes the size of saucers. If she had given the promise she had made a bit more thoughts then.. Too late now. If Hisui would pick those terms Kasumi wouldn't be able to let her rot away in the Nest if the day would ever come.

'That's why you should think before you speak.'
Kasumi visibly winced. It was completely unnecessary to rub it into her face now.

“There is a mansion outside of the city center, I assume that it hasn't been inhabited for the past couple of years, but it's pretty decent and the garden is enormous. Though, the interesting part isn't the garden. There is a training ground and a sophisticated lab on the lower floor and beneath it. You could probably fumble with the papers that have my name on it.. get yourself a larger place.”

She already had the feeling that there was a strategy behind Hisui's way of choosing a spot to live, but Kas was running out of things to offer. Negotiation clearly was no asset of hers. If only Hisui would tell her what she wanted, then she could at least try to get her hands on it. Peering at the woman that towered over her so easily, she frowned a little.


Words: 612 – GP 12 || TGP 70

Excellent, she'd gone for one of the more under-appreciated branches rather than blowing shit up all the time. Eyes flicked to the girl when she spoke, watched with her arms folded back across her chest in preparation for the display. Didn't let more than half a twitch of her eye pass her neutral expression as her hand tucked tight against one of her shattered ribs.

Gold-green eyes narrowed, the former color temporarily eating away the remaining tinge of green within the woman's irises as she studied the spell before her. Number Seventy-three, one, two th-- four. Four weaker points in an otherwise higher tier spell that had taken centuries to learn how to execute properly.

Flicked from the spell to its caster and the signs of effort and exertion on her young face.

Felt the corner of her mouth quirk up ever so slightly in a faint half-smile and dropped one hand down on top of the pale head and ruffled her hair into disarray. "Not bad, kiddo, keep it up and don't feel like you have to think inside the box so much." Felt a snicker, painful as it was, slip past her lips at the terrible play on words.

"You should learn how to lie better than that if you're gonna be of any worth in Second, Kasumi." Hisui scolded after a moment at the cheeky grin the fair haired child offered her.

She'd be making a good deal of Shinigami nervous at the rate she seemed to be developing at-- a goddamn good thing too, given just how far off track they'd fallen as a race. Disgust flickered across her face at the thought. There'd be no way in hell she'd be heading back by anything other than goddamn force at the rate things were developing. Sad day in Seireitei when one could trust the rogues and rabble more than their own fuckin' people.

"That, kid, is where you're wrong. I'd be leavin' with every good reason, and so would anyone with two brain cells left to rub together at the rate things are goin' up there." Paused, turned around and stared at her.

What in the fuck was Kiriko even doing with this kid in the first place?

"..." Couldn't even find it in her own shriveled black remnant of a heart to destroy that wide eyed, determined hopeful stare's delusion that Kiriko would save her.

Some dreams would have to be shattered the hard way-- and she'd hope she'd be dead and gone by the time the kid had to have that rude awakening. Didn't need any snot nosed brat wailing her grief into her shoulders, or legs, or back, or chest while she was trying to work, after all. Flicked her eyes toward the spirit and away again. Didn't disagree with her, but didn't want to acknowledge it either in case of anything being said or done. Some secrets had to be kept-- how else would she be able to give her persistent bastard recovery team the slip if their Spirits didn't give them away every fucking time.

Ruffled the girl's hair again in silent support. Trial and error, she was still young enough to fuck up and hopefully get off relatively lightly.

"I'll consider the options you've offered and make my decision after I see how much time this'll eat outta my own schedule." She finally spoke. Needed to consider what it was she'd tell the damn kid later on.

Pinched the girl's cheek with two fingers and tugged up. "Too damn young to frown like that, leave that to old women like me." Turned away and let go after a moment, patted the abused cheek with the same hand absently and headed back to the terminal. "You got a bike to serve as a base? Or you need me to acquire one?"

Using her fingers as a comb she desperately tried to put her locks back into their original place. A glare was sent into Hisui's direction, though she wasn't really mad. Just a bit embarrassed by the way she was treated, even if she secretly found it a strange type of soothing. Kasumi longed for attention most of the time, it was just something she couldn't properly function without. That's why at times she got into trouble – bad attention was still attention.

“But I don't like to lie.. it's.. sort of useless and.. why can't people just, you know, be honest and tolerant?”
Giving Hisui a thoughtful look she tried to figure out how she could possibly become at something she hated to do. She could joke, could keep quiet about things – but straight out lie? Telling lies caused Kasumi to feel uncomfortable and guilty, that's why she often ignored questions she didn't want to give an answer to.

“I have other skills than telling lies, I don't see why being deceitful should be the main trait for a member of the Nibantai. You don't need to lie to soul bury wandering souls, or to kill a Hollow! You can even gather information by just talking, no lies have to get involved.”

While she knew that some were dishonest, Kasumi really couldn't understand why it should be something standard. She would do just fine working for the Second the way she was now. When the woman raised her arm to ruffle Kasumi's hair again the girl considered dodging the gesture, but found herself standing still. It wasn't like she would die fr- oh god, no. Slender fingers pinched her cheek and Kas felt her eyebrows drop. The pat left the young Shinigami hungry for vengeance, and if it hadn't been for the woman's next words that hit her like a lightning she would have tried to pinch the redhead in return.

“If you wait for.. say hmm thirty minutes, I'll get one.”
There was a huge mischievous grin on Kasumi's face as she rubbed the pink cheek. She already knew which model she wanted and where she could get it from. The place she had in mind tuned cars and remodelled bikes, and while it wouldn't be a new one it would look just the way she wanted it to.

“All I have to do is get it, it's in one of the working places about ten minutes from here by car – with Shunpo I'll be there in about the same amount of time.”

A couple of minutes later she was outside once again. Special this, special that – take this, put that on, don't use any sort of Kidō. Hoping that she hadn't forgotten any of Hisui's instructions Kasumi pushed off and disappeared towards the second hand shop. The hood was pulled deeply over her face, and when the girl activated the borrowed Gigai she gained the physical form she needed to get the vehicle.


                         -  Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm
Sliding to a stop she didn't pull off the helmet – another thing she had taken from the shop, because why the hell not? It was the same matte black as the bike was, with golden curls on the sides. They matched the ones on the bike so well, just like the rims that would shine in the sunlight. Beyond excited about it becoming her transport before long, Kasumi couldn't help but to gently squeal when handing Hisui the key.

“You're the best, Hisui-san!”
Looking like a five year old on Christmas morning the girl lingered around the scientist until her eyes started to droop and she managed to fall asleep with her face on the desk while sitting on a chair with her legs curled beneath her.


Words: 622 – GP 12|| 82

Something that might have been a smile briefly touched the red headed researcher's lips at the glare cast her way. Maybe a smile. Could have been a gas bubble.

Hard to tell with her. Both were equally likely.

"Nibantai is a place is specifically meant for assassins, thieves, and spies; and to be any of those three, you gotta be able to lie so convincingly even you believe the line of bullshit you're feeding someone." She replied, succinct and matter of fact.

That was how the world worked, after all. That was always how Seireitei operated; someone had to be in charge of the seedy underbelly and the kind of work no one would ever want to admit to doing.

Shrugged slightly, grimaced when it pulled too sharply. "You don't need to be in a division to do your job as a Shinigami either." She reminded her casually. "Remember, kiddo, people lie. Always. If given a choice between lying and telling the truth when the lie'll benefit them? They'll do it in a heartbeat."

She'd certainly done her own goddamn share of lying, now hadn't she? Especially to herself.

Thirty minutes, eh? She hid a smile and shrugged again as if she didn't care, waved her off. "Don't get caught." She offered by means of dismissal. If she got caught, not her problem.

If she didn't, more the fun. She might even be able to find a way to pin it on someone in Seireitei's alias on Earth.

She had taken a copy of her records, after all.

Including that nice little forbidden copy that the Captain Commander had so clearly stated was to be stricken from the records and her notes left with him in that train wreck. He'd taken the notebook, but not the harmless little pen that had voice recording and recorded every last word she'd written in that notebook.

Never trust a member of the Science and Research Division.

Especially when said member had formerly served in Second Division.

Twice.

There was always another secret.

Slumped down with a heavy hiss into her chair and leaned back with a rush of shaky air leaving from between her lips. Pain throbbed, heavy and intense with black-red pulses behind her eyes.

She'd been damaged before, but not nearly to this extent.

At least, not that she'd remembered and that Taishaku had been willing to divulge.

The kid came back with a roar that made her laugh under her breath beneath the sound of the engine firing itself up. She'd wake up every Shinigami and Rukongai sleeping within two kilometers of wherever she was riding at the time.

This was going to be a delight to work on.

Kid was bouncy as ever, she studied the framework, consulted the plans and the diagrams she'd managed to get together as a template to use.

I hate you, you know that. If you hadn't become what you are, what you so wanted to be, we could have been doing this little stupid project together, Ezekiel. She couldn't even bring up the barest hint of resentment for him. Hollow words, hollow, false anger she was too tired to feel.

He would have made this stupid thing so much more entertaining than whatever she was capable of doing.

A blanket, soft and spell warmed, was draped over the passed out Shinigami.

Kids, she thought with a shake of her head. Ignored the streak of grease against her cheek and went back to tweaking the design and doing what she'd need to do.

"Oi. Kiddo. Wake up." Shook the pale haired child's shoulder half-heartedly a number of hours later.

Exhausted, in a good deal of pain and ready to get gloriously drunk to the point of blacking out, she'd accomplished what she'd set out to do. Twice. She waited to see if the kid stirred. Had paused for a break part way through and had moved her to a couch that unfolded from the wall.

She'd get a fuckin' neck ache sleeping on the desk and chair like that, stupid kid.

Part of her had been sorely tempted to be mean and play a prank on her, letting her wake up on one of the surgical tables she had with the lights on and a line of surgical scalpels, bone saws, and other delightful things she had in her collection sitting within eye shot.

Had been tempted, but too tired for that.

She was too tired for most of this shit.

Not, however, for customizing the license plate just for a little extra oomph to it.

'MNMTOSUX' in bold lettering.

She had the distinct feeling that Kasumi would come to appreciate it much later-- if she got the reference.

If not, well, it'd be amusing when someone did.

Something was poking her shoulder but Kasumi ignored the strange feeling. She was way too tired, and with a soft mumbling about nothing in particular she turned around before sinking away in a deep sleep. Quite some time later the girl's eyes opened up, and closed immediately after as she let out a long yawn. The blanket that was wrapped around her was so soft and warm; she didn't want to get up. That was until her brain had processed what had happened and she remembered the motorbike that Hisui was working on. A second later the kid was already on her feet, making her way through the workplace while searching for the redhead. It didn't take long for her to find the older Shinigami. A glass of presumably liquor was held between those slender fingers, and a proud smirk was spread across Hisui's face. Obviously the job was done.

“How did I-?” Her eyes traced the empty chair and stopped at the couch in the distance. Had she moved her? Rubbing her eyes with one of the blanket's corner she felt embarrassed and touched at the same time.

“You didn't have to.” The narrowing of her eyes was supposed to turn into a glare but the yawn that followed ruined her act of being tough. Carefully hiding the yawn behind the blanket she soon dropped it on one of the chairs and made her way towards the piece of art.

It was beautiful.
“Amazing!”

Kasumi carefully brushed the seat before touching the steering wheel. Forgetting all about being calm she twirled around the motorbike before climbing on it. This was the best thing she had ever acquired! Studying the side before connecting to the vehicle with strands of reiryoku Kasumi almost squealed when the thing came to life with a loud roar. Sliding from the bike a couple of moments later she headed towards the scientist with a huge smile that threatened to split her face in half.

“You're the best! Like, the very very best! The best-esttt!” She cheerfully chanted before trying to hug her mechanic goddess. Awkwardly wrapping her arms around Hisui she pressed her cheek against her shoulder in delight. Only then did she remember that she was supposed to pay for the scientist's work. "Thank you!" Letting go of her, she took a step back with the smile still present on her lips. “Have you decided what you want? I mean.. the papers or.. or is there something that I can do for you?”

After having seen and touched the brand new bike, Kasumi would probably do anything to have it. All Hisui had to do was say the words and Kas would be on it.

Giving the vehicle a loving glance she blinked at the confusing license plate.
“Mnmt..? Menumosu? M- Mntoosux?”


Words: 468 – GP9 || 91

"Mornin' sleeping beauty, and here I was about to see if I'd be the prince in your fairytale." A quip she wasn't quite sure would go over the kid's head, but since most kids had seen at least one fuckin' movie or another with princesses and shit, it felt like a safe reference to make.

Corner of her mouth quirked into a faint half-smile and she offered a one shouldered shrug that turned, once that snowy head had turned away to study the bike, into a grimace of pain. She'd overdone it and would pay for it later. The other corner of her mouth lifted at the little delighted noise that escaped as the bike roared in response to Kasumi's reiryoku.

This was the fun part-- even better for the girl to learn how to control and conceal her energy if she didn't want the goddamn thing to go off every time she decided to flare energy in a fit of pique.

Arms wrapped around her in a crushing embrace. Every muscle screamed in protest, fragile bone snapping out of place again at the enthusiastic hug as she sucked air and plastered a tight, false grin across her face.

Fucking ow.

"Heh, don't mention it." No bragging or self-important speeches about how of course she was the best, that's the only reason she'd come after all. Dug into a pocket when she let go and tapped her shoulder.

Dropped a brightly colored cellophane wrapped box into her hand. "This is your Gigai. It's an experiment so, I can't guarantee it'll work, but in theory it'll 'grow' a body around your soul so you look and appear to be human. Works same as all Gigai, try it out and see what you think."

Opening the box would reveal... a pair of earrings? Teardrop shaped briolette crystals as clear as glass and glittering in the light met their gaze.

"Put 'em on and your gigai'll manifest around your body." Taking them off would have the same effect; both of 'em had to be taken off or put on for it to work, losing one would get her stuck in the goddamn thing and she'd be forced to take off the other to dispel it. Fancy bit of kido work, that. She'd been having a lot of fun tinkering around with the technology and binding it to other things to see just how many ways a gigai could be stored or otherwise generated instead of the 'usual' way.

She'd figure out the rest of it on her own, Hisui thought with a wince as she shifted her hand against her side, shoved a shard back into place so it'd quit threatening to savage her right kidney.

Can you teach me how to do that? The girl's words came back. Her eyes slid to the teen as she frowned, poured over the license plate and failed to catch the reference.

Hisui smiled.

Oh, she'd get her reward in spades.

"I want you to make a delivery for me to Lieutenant Kohara. It's imperative he receives this package." She limped, hand still favoring her right side, over to her desk and opened a drawer. Pulled out a file roughly three inches thick and handed it over to the girl. "If he asks, tell him it's from his secret admirer who wishes him a belated happy holiday."

He was going to absolutely love the little scavenger hunt she'd prepared for his Christmas present this year and the treasure trove that awaited him at the end of it.

And by "absolutely love it", she meant the moment the call to bring her in dead or alive was made, he'd personally assign himself to bringing her in and interrogating her in retaliation.

Ahh, it was going to be a great deal of fun.

"Minamoto sucks." Hisui corrected, fluffing the girl's hair into a bigger mess than it had been originally. "Couldn't fit the whole thing there, but it makes enough since that the bright ones'll get it."

As Hisui moved towards the desk Kasumi took the time to study the fancy earrings. They were really pretty, and the girl quite liked the idea of them creating a Gigai whenever they were worn. Unable to maintain her curiosity she put them on. Besides, Hisui had just told her to do it.

Immediately the Gigai formed; this truly was a piece of art! After admiring the Gigai in one or another laboratory equipment of glass and picking up a pencil in order to see whether it was solid or not, she widely grinned and took them off. And it worked! The moment she took off the shining jewellery the body was there no longer. It simply vanished as if it had never been there in the first place. Nobody could deny this being brilliant. Concluding that Hisui was a true genius, she stared at the earrings in the palm of her hand. Now she only had to find a safe place to hide them at until she would need them.

'A shame she seems to be on the run.' The Spirit suddenly made her presence known by musing about the reason why the redhead was here, in the human realm. 'Something must have been terribly off for her to go this far, and them being unable to let it slide.'

While Vör had a point, Kasumi's head was filled with adventures on her new bike and showing off the Gigai to those she actually trusted. Mhm, the young Shinigami absent-mindedly added. Well, if she ever needs help, I'll try to do whatever I can. Even if that wasn't exactly a lot.

She was fumbling with putting them away when Hisui returned. A bit frustrated Kasumi simply put them back on, and then turned to face the scientist. There was a thick file resting between her hands now. While being around paperwork wasn't anything new to Kasumi, she really felt relieved when figuring out that she only had to bring these to Kohara. Just the thought of having to go through so much paperwork had her turning nervous and upset. She was really lucky that Hisui only wanted for her to deliver it to the Vice or this could have easily turned into a nightmare.

“I'll make sure to hand it to him personally!” Obviously content about a bargain well struck she took the file from Hisui and tucked it away beneath her armpit. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Her gaze soon went to the bike again. Minamoto sucks, eh? Well, if Hisui thought that he did, Kasumi wouldn't argue with her. At least not on this matter. Allowing the woman to turn her hair into something akin to a bird's nest, she chuckled briefly, then felt the need to question whether or not Hisui was calling her stupid. Too excited about her new toys, Kasumi dropped the matter with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. Hisui could say whatever she wanted, the motorbike worked and so did the Gigai – Kasumi didn't need anything else. And more importantly, she was getting the feeling that the older Shinigami just liked to tease her. Teasing didn't hold any bad intentions, at least not as far as Kas knew.

With the documents firmly pressed against her chest Kasumi bowed towards Hisui before reluctantly looking around. “I guess that I should be going..” A yawn was soon hidden behind the package. She rubbed some moisture from her eyes right after. The sleepiness was still present in both her bones and her mind, she would have to test the bike's speed to get rid of it.

Opening the storage area she stared at the little space. Even if she would try to roll up the papers, they still wouldn't fit in without looking like..shit. “Do you have .. a backpack or something?” She wondered out loud before looking up at Hisui. If the latter didn't possess one, Kasumi could always hide the package beneath her jacket and drive like that.. but a backpack would be way handier than trying not to lose the file while speeding across the city with only one hand on the steering wheel. “I can bring it back later, if you want me to.”


Words: 705 – GP14 || 105

She was still a kid on the inside, Hisui thought with a slight smile and shake of her head. Watched as she played pretty bird in the reflective surfaces of her lab as indulgently as any guardian over their charge would.

That damn spirit of hers, on the other hand... Hisui cast a sideways look as the girl was preening and adjusting the earrings to her liking. Luckily for her, Kasumi seemed more interested in the baubles than the wisdom of the spirit's words. Typical teenager behavior that she enjoyed taking full advantage of to advance her own plans. Or, in this case, to keep a kid a little too keen on little details thoroughly distracted.

She frowned, briefly, at the question. Anything else she could do about...? Children these days didn't seem to know how to finish a question to save their lives. Damn it anyways, she thought with a barely perceptible cringe as she reached up to shove her bangs out of her eyes.

Backpack... yes, she could do that easily enough. "Shouldn't be that hard to find." Headed to the northwestern corner of the room and opened a set of shining cabinets taller than she was. Cocked her head ever so slightly and shut them again with a bemused smile. Wrong cabinet; she'd apparently forgotten to swap that one out for another. Silly, silly forgetful Hisui. At least I know where that set of equipment got to. She thought, headed to the second set beside it and peeked inside.

"Been dead a while now, haven't you?" She asked abruptly. Didn't pause in her search even when the itch under her skin and prickle at the back of her neck forced her mouth open to a new line of conversation.

Goddamn that nosy impulse of hers sometimes.

Close; those were suitcases-- and my, didn't she have some interesting taste. Hisui paused to readmire a set of absolutely hideous luggage in an eye searing shade of flourescent yellow. She didn't even remember where the hell she'd acquired that, but there was no way in hell anyone was going to lose those unless their intentions were deliberate.

Third time was the charm and she found a suitable satchel for the girl to slip the file containing Kohara's latest headache and blood pressure test into for safe travel. Offered it to Kasumi and didn't release her grip when the kid grabbed hold.

"You been adjusting to life as a Shinigami okay, kiddo?"

Sliding across the floor Kasumi followed Hisui in her search for anything that could be used as a backpack. The first set of cabinets appeared to contain something that had nothing to do with the required object. Sadly, Kasumi hadn't been fast enough to catch a glimpse from their contents. Hisui's hand had closed them just in time for Kasumi to be left frowning at the shining surface that was the cabinet's door. Placing her hand onto the nob Kasumi bit her bottom lip in excitement. Her heartbeat quickened at the simple idea of opening something that didn't belong to her, at seeing something she wasn't supposed to see. Swallowing hard she was about to turn the nob and reveal the mysterious contents of the cabinet when Hisui spoke. So instead of solving the mystery she jumped a little. With fingers sliding from the smooth surface she then turned around to face the scientist with Vör's laughter still haunting her.

'..haha, scaredy-cat.' Kasumi pretty much hissed at the Spirit whose laughter only intensified. Easy for you to laugh, you wouldn't have been the one who would have to explain things.. Staring at Hisui she tried to form a decent answer but the argument with Vör prevented her from doing better than just nodding. 'You can always explain them with your sword.' Kasumi's eyes wandered over the suitcases. That's stupid – and what the hell? 'Perhaps, but it's better than being scared.' The serious tone didn't stick for long, when the awful colour sank in the Valkyrie chuckled. 'Woah, those must have been bought by a blind man.' Hopefully she wouldn't have to drive through the city with one of those.

And to her great relief Hisui soon took out something less flashy. Grabbing onto the soft, worn leather Kasumi tilted her head to the side when the woman didn't let go. At first she thought it to be a joke, the way Hisui kept the bag in a firm grip. “What?” The word slipped out before the girl had had the time to form a decent answer. This had come out of nowhere, and the situation caused her to feel a bit odd. “Y-yeah.” She managed a fragile smile before letting out a nervous laughter.

'Yeah? You can't stand their morals, you hate the rules together with their arrogance, and with every bit of memory that you regain you just become more and more certain that the reason that you're sticking around is because of Kiriko.' Clenching her teeth Kasumi pulled at the bag with newfound vigor. 'And this one seems to be more concerned about you than tha-.'

Shut up!
Firmly holding the bag against her chest Kasumi let out a shivering breath. In an attempt to regain her composure and hide her true feelings she quickly made her way to the file and started to push it into the bag. “Most of them are just .. just a bit different.” Having succeeded at closing the bag she nodded to herself. Unsure and with troubled eyes she strapped the bag over her shoulder. “I'll.. grow used to them in time.” Feeling rather awkward she kept on fumbling with the strap while there was nothing wrong with it.

When her gaze jumped from her hands to Hisui, Kasumi grinned a little. “Or.. they'll grow used to me.”


Words: 556 – GP11 ||116

Hisui's lips twitched, fought against the smile threatening to form at the clearly one sided baiting between spirit and Shinigami. Poor kid, no one'd actually explained things or managed to introduce her to the way things were supposed to go as a dead soul turned Shinigami. The thought alone was enough to bring a stormy cast to her strong features, a grim set to her mouth as she wished, for a brief moment, to throttle that pissant of a Captain from Second Division. There was a fine line between arrogance and stupidity, and Kiriko had crossed it long ago in her single minded obsession for... whatever it was. Control. Approval. Chasing after the shadows of something that didn't exist. Then again, this was not an issue exclusive to the Second Division-- and yet one more reason why she had chosen to follow her Captain's last command and execute every last one of the development projects they'd worked on.

And all the back up files and equipment, at that.

She wondered, briefly, just how many asses that little trick of hers had managed to chap and chuckled darkly under her breath.

The flash of alarm on Kasumi's face, the fragile smile and nervous laughter said more than enough. She wasn't adjusting-- and a moment's silence was enough to gain further information courtesy of a spirit with quite a bit of sense in her to starkly contrast with the child's naivety and passion. A few seconds later and the renewed, insistent tugging on the bag with clenched teeth were enough to banish any doubts.

She let go. The fair haired child stumbling away to gain a moment's composure. Eyes with more than a touch of gold in their normally jade green depths narrowed thoughtfully. So, Kiriko didn't hold the child's leash anymore-- had apparently neglected her in more ways than one. Just what in the name of Hell do they think they're doing in Seireitei? Dangerous idea, that. An untrained, uninitiated Shinigami child with her level of power would be a certain threat to Seireitei if left unchecked and unmonitored.

Other than ruining themselves and creating a perfect opportunity for you to come back, my love? Taishaku purred in her ear for the first time in nearly a year since their departure. Apparently he'd decided to stop sulking and poke his head up now, the wretched bastard.

Pity too, she'd gotten used to the silence and emptiness in her thoughts.

She didn't meet Kasumi's grin with one of her own. "Of course we're different," Hisui replied with a quirk of one rusty brow. "we're Shinigami; not human."

Unique situations. Unique awakenings and transitions born from carelessness and stupid fateful tragedy-- and the amount of sheer neglect in educating the new children awakening as Shinigami was absolutely pathetic.

She eased herself away from the desk she'd leaned back against. Kept her eyes directly on the child's face, noted each little shift and uneasy movement of finger and foot alike."You're on a dangerous path, kiddo, and you're gonna end up dead." Towered over the petite Shinigami and tipped her chin up with a practiced gesture. Really bore her gaze down into the shifting eyes of the former human.

There was strength and potential ripe for the forge inside her. And if Hisui's calculations had been correct, she'd be one of the pillars of Seireitei when shit hit the fan and the world came tumbling down in little to no time at all. But that rejection, that rebelliousness and stupid human habit of closing their ears and eyes to the world around them when it suited them had to quit. Her fingers removed themselves from the girl's chin. Lifted up as if to brush her hair away from her face.

Only to deliver a sharp flick to the center of the child's forehead. "You're fifty years too early for this rebellious phase." Hisui scolded lightly, dropped her hand back to her side with a slight smirk breaking the intensity of her expression.

Helped situate the straps a little better on the girl's back, helmet plopped firmly into her hands with a pointed glare that suggested she not argue with safety-- and a 'mild' recounting of brain injuries that would reduce her to a living vegetable if she weren't careful and chose not to wear it. Bike given a final cursory inspection, the earrings firmly tucked away where they wouldn't be lost, and the file securely in the satchel, Kasumi was ready to be on her way and leave Hisui to whatever the red head chose to do with her life away from Seireitei.

She hesitated, dropped her hand on her shoulder to hold her in place. Waited until the former human looked up at her.

"You don't have to like it, and you can fight against it for as long as you can,"Chose to keep her golden gaze on something in the distant alleyway to her left as she spoke. Her words careful and measured, but no less of a gut punch in their message. "but it won't erase the facts; your humanity vanished the moment someone struck you down and your soul passed on, Kasumi."

Released her shoulder with an awkward squeeze and a pat after. A brief flare of light in her palm and the cigarette in her mouth was lit. Stream of silvery smoke exhaled and snared by the wind.

"Take care of yourself, kiddo." A firm farewell in that regard. She doubted the two of them would meet terribly soon. Eventually, since the child had the devil's own luck at times, but not soon enough to make her dependent on another.

Growing up was such a bitch, she was glad that phase hadn't lasted more than seventy three years on her end. Take care of yourself, Hisui thought as she watched the girl ride away. because no one else can at this stage of the game.