The Surprise Visit {Sekai}

Her experiments with sekkiseki stone left her with one very unfortunate side effect; Hollow breeds really did find themselves drawn to the remnants of what she'd silently been calling 'Old' Karakura Town. Drawn there and then put to rest whenever they stumbled on her current location with one good swipe. Or one good back and forth if they caught her by surprise. The latter was taken care of with Amenonuhoko and a curse the likes of which would have had those who knew her either slack jawed with shock or howling with laughter. The former were those of the spiritually affiliated and loosely known. The latter, most likely, would be family and dearest friend alike who had seen her in the midst of a true temper tantrum. Usually in the midst of a losing raid in one of the games she'd had perilously little time to actually play as of late and missed the simplicity of.

Fucking Parasite Dragon and its high magical resistance and confusion status inflicting breath weapon. Damage output on that stupid thing was absolutely asinine for a party comprised of a bunch of level thirty-fives and above. There was no reason anyone should have as much trouble and she'd very happily joined in the forum discussions of what a cheating bastard the dragon was and how unnecessarily overpowered and gimicky a boss fight it was. There were worse out there for sure-- the ten legendary bosses and the raids through the special dungeons those put a party through, for example-- but she had a special hate in the depths of her soft heart for the Parasite Dragon.

Sekai could feel her blood pressure spiking just thinking about it.

Flickers of nearly invisible lights at the back of her mind gave her pause mid-attempt. A frown creased her brow as she rose. Her work half-finished in a knee high model of Karakura Town, Sekai turned her attention in the direction she'd felt the tug. Why were regular police officers so close within the perimeter? Another star, brighter and with the unmistakable Hollow taint to it, gave her reason to sigh. Hand rested over her heart and her attention focused. A pulse of her reiatsu, faint and soft and significantly less than what she was capable of, rippled throughout the ruins. A warning meant to discourage the Hollow and whoever it might have been pursuing.

No such luck, she thought with a sad shake of her head. Fingers curled as if her chest pained her. Sank into light the color of a sunlight forest canopy and pulled forth the weapon she would use to end their endless hunger and suffering. A flash in the dimly lit structure she'd hidden in and she flew out the broken window in full armor to pursue the intruder before they could get into mischief. Found it in the midst of firing a Bala through a series of windows. Another building she'd temporarily used as both hiding place and experimental ground, the Hollow breed was of fairly standard fare; thickly muscled with oversized arms that bulged and hid a short neck and squat legs that barely seemed capable of holding it upright. Hollow hole above where the left kidney resided, the solid mask over its broad flat face was reminiscent of a primate of some mixed heritage.

She whistled once; note high and sweet. Caught its attention with a bellow of challenge and a scarlet Cero headed right in her direction. One hand outstretched, palm outward, and caught the attack bare handed and threw it to the ground at her feet. Gave the beast an all too patient look as it beat its chest and charged at her.

So be it then.

--

Sekai flicked the blade of her weapon. Nearly black blood splattered across the ground with little pattering sounds and she sighed. Rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand and scowled down at the disappearing body.

This was the fifth one in two days and she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out how to dissuade them from throwing their lives away. "One would think that self-preservation would kick in from the warning alone." She muttered aloud to the open air. The soul manifested; a confused and burly looking youth with a wide flat nose and small, beady eyes that widened upon realizing she was there. A short, gentle conversation and explanation that he wouldn't remember later, if he were lucky, and the counterweight of Amenonuhoko tapped the center of the man's forehead. Light bloomed brightly and a glowing butterfly soared off to the heavens. Just as the child's had when she'd seen her first purification-- Konso-- so long ago.

Thinkin' an awful lot 'bout that guy in particular. Amenonuhoko commented. Somethin' you wanna share with the class? Memories brought up by spendin' all that time with Miyuki in Seireitei, maybe?

She had the decency to blush at the mention of the blue eyed, twin tailed Shinigami Captain she'd reunited with not three days prior. Bittersweet at first, she'd been rather happy at the end result of the reunion and looked forward to the next time they could go on a more official date. One less impromptu and filled with enough tears and feelings between the two of them to choke even the most romantic of viewers to an exasperated death. Not in particular. She denied.

Her spirit waited, alarmingly patient for once.

Sekai sighed. Naginata slipped upright into idle position in her hands, reminiscent of a museum statue; blade pointed straight toward the sky and butt against the ground as if she were standing guard. Maybe. Seeing her brought... other memories back. Happier ones. Less complicated ones. Fell quiet again and sorted through her thoughts while Amenonuhoko waited. I don't know what to do, She admitted, feeling oddly exposed and vulnerable in the moment. it seems like all these memories come up at the absolute worst ti--

Immediately went on guard at the feeling of a vaguely familiar but not reiatsu signature making its way closer. Scarlet eyes sharpened. Feet set shoulder length apart, her naginata shifted immediately. Now supported in both hands with curved edge pointed outward and counterweight angled above her head, Sekai was prepared to meet an unexpected attack and cut through it-- or block it entirely-- depending on the individual's intentions and response.

Time. Her spirit replied flatly with an exaggerated roll of her eyes heavenward. Reached up and flicked a silver bead secured braid out of her face. Deal with yet another snooping idiot and we'll talk more about it and decide what we're doing about that piece of unfinished business.

Took a deep, even breath and honed her focus specifically on the approaching reiatsu signature. Brighter star, but still so dim compared to the brighter shine she could detect throughout the city. Closer... closer... and-- wait. Was that...? Sekai lowered her weapon just a touch upon recognizing why it felt so familiar even as the face and dark hair popped up, complete with ever present baseball cap, in her field of vision. "Laurent-san, is that you?" She called out the inquiry, more than a touch of surprise in her wary tone. Why on Earth did he feel so similar to that Weylin von Wolfenstein fellow now rather than herself or Dew?

For that matter, why was he here, in Karakura Town's ruins?

--
WC: 1233
GP: 24

Life was certainly strange; sometimes friends, near and far, would wander into your life never to return, other times they kept appearing again and again. Hopefully you didn’t get sick of them when that happened but if you did, hey that’s what life was about, finding what got on your nerves and either embracing it till it didn’t or running as far away from it as you could. For Raph this had often been no different…or so he thought. He couldn’t get away from certain people, not that he was particularly trying mind you, but some people just kept popping back up. Made him wonder if Keyser Soze, or Adimus was going to simply rematerialize someday.

He’d had dreams like that, that friends would simply reappear, materializing and then a day going by as though they’d never been gone at all. Though, sometimes life wasn’t strange, just liked to give you a good kick in the teeth.

This time? It was the latter. It was a nice kick in the teeth to see Sekai again, though not because it was Sekai, but because of the fact that that she…looked just like a Shinigami. Again, not that they were bad, but he just didn’t trust them, always gave him a bad vibe when he saw them.

The girl came into view, a Shinigami robe upon her and a naginata in hand, truly she had become one. But what did that mean? Had she died in some horrible and gruesome accident? Had she succumbed to a slow death of the heart? Or had she been injured greatly and simply passed on?

She seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to see her, even taking her so far as to shout out his name to check. With surprise, and a twinge of jealousy, he raised his head to look at her.

“Fujimura-san! I’m surprised, to be honest. I wasn’t expecting…well this!” Her reiatsu practically oozed Shinigami, on top of mortality. What had happened to this girl? Slowly he took off his hat just to look at her. It was strange just how much time could change two people. He wondered if, after all this time, there was any kind of bond between them? Certainly there had to be some semblance of friendship there; it had been when they’d last met, why would things have altered so much now? “You’re not dead, right? You didn’t die while I was gone and that’s why you’re like this.”

Cheery topic, that

‘Fuck off.’

He paused for a moment studying her. Robe, obi, sandals…weapon, yep she was a Shinigami through and through. “My what changes time brings, hm?” He approached her slowly, stopping perhaps two feet away from her and dropping his mekkyaku. “You’ve certainly changed…a bit since last we met. Time has certainly been, at the very least, slightly kind to you.” He could feel her aura as well. “You even feel like a Shinigami. This is incredible! Tell me, how did you manage such a feat without death?”

Words: 511
GP: 10
Total: 22

The transformation vanished in the next instant. Naginata completely disappeared from her hands and clothing returned to normal everyday wear. Stomach churned. Nerves dampened her palms as she swallowed hard and resisted the urge to shuffle her weight from one foot to another. Wiped her hands against the sides of the long forest green skirt she wore. For a moment, just before she completely suppressed any trace of her reiatsu, she felt completely human again. This wasn't the way she'd foreseen any kind of reunion between the two of them happening. In all actuality, she hadn't anticipated running into him again. At least, not until any official sort of meeting between that matter Jian was setting up and the rest to see just how many they were working with.

"I'm alive," She answered after a lengthy pause. Tone hesitant as she watched the bow drop, her urge to retreat back a few steps growing by the moment. "it may have come closer than those around me would like to consider, but I still number among the living."

She forced herself not to bolt under scrutiny. To depart with nothing more than an uncomfortable 'we will talk later, I must be going' and pretend the awkward encounter never happened. Since when had he been a Quincy, anyway? For that matter, what had he been doing all this time since they'd last encountered one another so many months ago?

"Time brings change whether or not we are prepared for it or anticipate it, yes." She agreed, keeping the topic as neutral as possible. "I trust time has seen changes for you in turn? Positive ones, I would hope."

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame. Amenonuhoko drawled out the word. Tapped her fingers in 'L' shape against her forehead over and over again.

Sekai really needed to find a way to prevent that woman from accessing memories she wasn't supposed to dredge up. Stupid references a little older than she wanted to think about and everything. It was like the spirit went out of her way to remind her of just how embarrassing an individual she really was in the past-- and the present. She added the latter part to prevent the silver eyed devil from tacking it on herself.

It didn't work. Ooh, you're learning! I'm so proud of you! Half sarcasm, half genuine pleasure in the woman's voice as she cheerfully responded.

One of these days, she was going to have the foresight and beat her at her own game. Until then, she'd have to deal with and accept the onset of multiple tension headaches caused by too many vexing people and situations all at once. For now, however, she'd need to deal with the simple matter of figuring out how to answer his question. Or rather answer it without doing something make him do something completely stupid-- like trying to replicate it.

You ashamed? Amenonuhoko asked warily.

She shook her head. No. ...well, yes. Sort of? I'm not proud of the whole 'why it happened', but I don't necessarily mind the, um...? Helpless shrug and mental gesture toward the inquisitive spirit. "the rest of it, if that makes sense.

Sekai?

She blinked. Surprised that Amenonuhoko used her name rather than the host of 'pet' names and insults she'd come up with. Yes? Tentative response.

An impression of silver eyes closing in exasperation. Shut up and talk to this idiot. Gods save them both from her stupidity.

Well, okay then.

"I do not know." Sekai finally replied. "Not a lot from... that period of time is very clear for a handful of reasons." Painful memories. Hazy fever dreams of days and weeks passing by one after another. Her gaze flicked over him and then back to something off to her right. "Um... that is to say, I am still myself-- still Fujimura Sekai. I have not changed that much."

At least, not in the ways that she felt would matter overall.

--
WC: 655
GP: 13