Post by Shinpei Minamoto on Nov 24, 2016 18:20:12 GMT -5
There were perks, Shinpei had found, to being a true, Division-affiliated Shinigami.
There weren't all that many, and most of them were bad: a couple Seireitei and Karakara museums charged a reduced entry fee, for one. You could get through checkpoints with relative ease depending on your rank. And, of course, you were invited by default to the occasional social events that the more sociable Divisions put on.
These were the uninteresting ones. Who cared about museums, really? And who spent that much time going through checkpoints? The social events were a good step in the right direction, but Shinpei had attended a few and found they were closer to art show meetings than mixers. A real shame. Not much alcohol involved.
There were some good things, and one of them was the reputation each Division carried. He'd found to his surprise and his enjoyment that being the lieutenant of the Second Division made him quite a character, gave him quite a reputation. Women that had been disappointed at his relative lack of muscles when he'd been in the Fifth were now impressed and excited by the allure of mystery the Second Division carried.
He didn't mind either way, of course: the chase was the chase, and having a head start was fun enough, but hardly necessary. As always, he had success with some women and not with others. As always, "success" sometimes meant one thing and sometimes it meant a whole lot of things.
But the real peak benefit? Coming to Earth whenever he wanted. That wasn't something you could just up and do, for a lot of reasons: the portals were monitored. The travel was difficult. And perhaps most surprisingly, once on Earth things became even more complicated. Where were you going to store your Gigai? Where were you going to stay? If you're planning on entertaining guests, where? How? When? What will you eat? What will you drink?
All of these things required money, and money had to come from somewhere. The Seireitei was good at providing money to properly justified Shinigami but your average Joe was out of luck. Shinpei had often been that average Joe and he was tired of it. The few ways he'd found to make money on the Earth had been fun at first but were now quite tedious.
But call it a business trip and here he was, walking down one of the most popular streets of Karakura town just as the evening rush was beginning. People hustled to and fro, laughing and chatting and teasing. More than a few groups were happy couples out for a night on the town, and they shot hearts at each other as they walked from one bar to the next.
Shinpei loved the energy this town had at this time of night. It was the one thing besides the central park that was just the same as it had been two years ago, and twenty years ago, and even two hundred years ago when he'd first come with--
Well, the first time.
Shinpei didn't have much of a plan for the night, but then he never really did. He loved to play things by ear, no matter what: he thought it was much more exciting than planning some painstaking set of steps that would inevitably fail in one or more ways. He wasn't too good at planning either, which probably helped his dislike for it and vice versa.
To put it another way, I suppose you could say he had to be like this. If he had important plans, they'd have been dashed again and again. You can't say "My night will end with a beautiful woman in my bed," because sometimes it will and sometimes it won't. What Shinpei said was "I'll have fun tonight, whatever happens." And usually, he did.
This was one of those nights. He walked casually along the bustling streets, unable to keep a smile off his face as he watched a couple exchange a kiss here, a group of friends pushing each other along there. He really did like people, Shinigami or Human. He even liked the Arrancars and Hollows he'd met, although having slept with a fair number of them probably helped that.
As always, Shinpei stuck out like a sore thumb, except perhaps a little less than usual: his robes, although askew and open partially in the front, were made of more expensive stuff than usual. They still had his customary flower-print, and they still stuck to more feminine colors. His hair was still a little messy, and he still wore that grin.
For a night out on the town, you had to wear something you could do just about anything in.
There weren't all that many, and most of them were bad: a couple Seireitei and Karakara museums charged a reduced entry fee, for one. You could get through checkpoints with relative ease depending on your rank. And, of course, you were invited by default to the occasional social events that the more sociable Divisions put on.
These were the uninteresting ones. Who cared about museums, really? And who spent that much time going through checkpoints? The social events were a good step in the right direction, but Shinpei had attended a few and found they were closer to art show meetings than mixers. A real shame. Not much alcohol involved.
There were some good things, and one of them was the reputation each Division carried. He'd found to his surprise and his enjoyment that being the lieutenant of the Second Division made him quite a character, gave him quite a reputation. Women that had been disappointed at his relative lack of muscles when he'd been in the Fifth were now impressed and excited by the allure of mystery the Second Division carried.
He didn't mind either way, of course: the chase was the chase, and having a head start was fun enough, but hardly necessary. As always, he had success with some women and not with others. As always, "success" sometimes meant one thing and sometimes it meant a whole lot of things.
But the real peak benefit? Coming to Earth whenever he wanted. That wasn't something you could just up and do, for a lot of reasons: the portals were monitored. The travel was difficult. And perhaps most surprisingly, once on Earth things became even more complicated. Where were you going to store your Gigai? Where were you going to stay? If you're planning on entertaining guests, where? How? When? What will you eat? What will you drink?
All of these things required money, and money had to come from somewhere. The Seireitei was good at providing money to properly justified Shinigami but your average Joe was out of luck. Shinpei had often been that average Joe and he was tired of it. The few ways he'd found to make money on the Earth had been fun at first but were now quite tedious.
But call it a business trip and here he was, walking down one of the most popular streets of Karakura town just as the evening rush was beginning. People hustled to and fro, laughing and chatting and teasing. More than a few groups were happy couples out for a night on the town, and they shot hearts at each other as they walked from one bar to the next.
Shinpei loved the energy this town had at this time of night. It was the one thing besides the central park that was just the same as it had been two years ago, and twenty years ago, and even two hundred years ago when he'd first come with--
Well, the first time.
Shinpei didn't have much of a plan for the night, but then he never really did. He loved to play things by ear, no matter what: he thought it was much more exciting than planning some painstaking set of steps that would inevitably fail in one or more ways. He wasn't too good at planning either, which probably helped his dislike for it and vice versa.
To put it another way, I suppose you could say he had to be like this. If he had important plans, they'd have been dashed again and again. You can't say "My night will end with a beautiful woman in my bed," because sometimes it will and sometimes it won't. What Shinpei said was "I'll have fun tonight, whatever happens." And usually, he did.
This was one of those nights. He walked casually along the bustling streets, unable to keep a smile off his face as he watched a couple exchange a kiss here, a group of friends pushing each other along there. He really did like people, Shinigami or Human. He even liked the Arrancars and Hollows he'd met, although having slept with a fair number of them probably helped that.
As always, Shinpei stuck out like a sore thumb, except perhaps a little less than usual: his robes, although askew and open partially in the front, were made of more expensive stuff than usual. They still had his customary flower-print, and they still stuck to more feminine colors. His hair was still a little messy, and he still wore that grin.
For a night out on the town, you had to wear something you could do just about anything in.