The Newcomer - [Closed|Hisoka]

Kiriko had accomplished her task quickly. The old veteran had been home and amiable to answering questions. They'd had a laugh over the poor record keeping of the previous Lieutenant and he'd even congratulated her on her promotion. Kiriko couldn't really remember the man from his tenure at the Second but it was nice irregardless to have someone recognize the progress she had made all on her own. From a lowly unseated officer, a recruit really, all the way up to second in command. And beneath such a wonderful Captain as Tsukimiya Kyousuke, really the man had had a tinge of envy and regret in his voice as he bid her farewell. Kiriko knew that tone, understood his jealousy. She was doing what any Gotei member would dream of. Serving a strong Captain who epitomized the Division's values and strengths. If the Captain had been around when this man was still a member of the Nibantai, odds were he would still be there, happy to serve such a man as her Captain.

Pausing in the hallway of the building she glanced around furtively. There was no one to see her. Thanking whatever God was out there she sneezed quickly in succession, before rubbing at her nose. Ughh, acting normal despite this cold was starting to take its toll! Smoothing out her hakama and pressing her hair back into its tight bun Kiriko knew that she looked fine. It was just anxiety that told her she was a mess today. Even the newly polished badge on her shoulder that proclaimed her rank was present and in good form. So long as she could hold in the sneezing and coughing until she got back, everything would be fine. Just fine.

Reassuring herself wasn't so easy when Kiriko stepped outside into the streaming sunlight. Shading her eyes for a moment as they acclimated she leaned lightly against the building's exterior. It was such a pretty day, with the birds chirping nearby and the soothing rustle of plant life. Why did she have to have these accursed allergies again? Blame it on her genetics, right? There were a lot of things to blame her Otousama for, it was easy to add one more accusation onto that pile.

As she pushed off the wall and went to turn back onto the street Kiriko saw from the corner of her eye a black clad form stepping towards her. Watching carefully, an instinct drilled into her through impromptu training sessions, she continued to walk away as if she had not seen him. Maybe she could escape without having to run through the pleasantries that were now expected of her in her new rank. Kiriko was not so lucky though as the man called out to her in a loud voice, raising one hand in a universal greeting that clearly was directed at Kiriko. She sighed but soon smoothed her features into impassivity. Kiriko had a nasty habit of glaring at people, it had helped a lot when she was just a weakling officer trying to fend off hazing but now that she was someone of substance it tended to have a negative effect on her interactions with people. With that in mind she tried to look normal, no visible irritation or anger to signal to this Shingami that she really wished he hadn't called her out.

He approached quickly and Kiriko looked him over, noting immediately the non-standard uniform. She could see no insignia on him, though he did carry a Zanpakutou. If she was the type to assume she would go with a new graduate from the Academy, judging by his wavering word choice and the fact that he didn't recognize her. Most active duty Shingami at least knew the Captains and Lieutenants by sight even if not personally. That is, if they were any good at their jobs. Responsibility didn't run evenly throughout the Divisions sadly. She was surprised though by his offer, to help her. That was a bit more chivalrous than she'd been assuming taking in his appearance. Kiriko wasn't usually the target of these kinds of overtures, due in part to her lack of feminine beauty but also because she just had a way of intimidating anyone who would have normally approached her. Still, it was rather thoughtful of him. To want to be of use even when you had no official duties. She could empathize with the desire to do something meaningful or helpful. To be important, even if only for a minute or two.

The problem was Kiriko didn't have any more errands to run today. She thought fast though to see if she could think up something that didn't really need to be done right away but could be completed at this point in time. Catching on something specific Kiriko bowed adroitly, her stiff posture and regale bearing indicating status even if he didn't spot the plaque on her shoulder. “Good afternoon Setsuna-san. I am Chinda Kiriko, Lieutenant of the Second. If you have a moment I would appreciate your help actually. My Captain is so busy that sometimes he doesn't have the time to go grocery shopping. I have a list from him of the particulars but it might be a large purchase and it always helps to have someone to assist with carrying so I do not have to make two trips.” Kiriko informed him firmly, wondering if he was actually willing to help her or if he'd expected her to demure.

WC: 915 | GP: 18 | Total GP: 33

Kiriko looked on coolly as Setsuna bowed, her own internal dialogue running a constant commentary. She was pleased with his change in demeanor once the Shinigami had realized who she was. Kiriko never brook any insubordination and she considered disrespect one and the same. Setsuna's yelled greeting was on the borderline of impertinence though she had given him some slack as they were not in a professional setting and there was no reason for him to have known her name or rank. It had ruffled Kiriko's feathers though, as she always prided herself on performance and appearance. A big part of that was the way others reacted around you or interacted with you, and it was not a strong indication of her character if people were commonly calling out to her with such casual tones. Therefore she was rather pleased that he'd made the motion to rectify his previous coarseness. Anyone who was watching now would clearly see that she was a person to be admired and given courtesy.

There was nothing wrong with this shift in demeanor and rather than losing points in her eyes for having initially committed such an indiscretion Setsuna actually rose in her esteem. To make a mistake was only natural, to see that and correct it without fail was something to be proud of. Kiriko was always on the look out for humility and responsibility in others – they were grand traits that she much appreciated in her Division mates. People with that kind of reflection and ability were great subordinates, they not only functioned well in a group but they also had the awareness to really out perform others whose sole claim to fame was a brash skill in battle.

With his agreement to accompany her Kiriko had inadvertently snagged a real helper. Commonly the Captain stocked his own kitchen when he needed special ingredients for his cooking but she was just as likely to be the one sent off to the market for the weekly foodstuffs. It simply made more sense, he was too busy, and she didn't want anyone else dabbling with their vitals or trying to understand the complicated grocery list or system they used in the Annex kitchen. But that didn't mean it wasn't a hassle for her, having to carry all of the groceries by herself was the biggest problem. This was a solution to a problem she hadn't even envisioned fixing today, and Kiriko was quite pleased with the way things had turned out. Maybe if she was very lucky she could figure out why Setsuna hadn't gotten into a Division yet and probe him more carefully. The Second had particular needs in their Shinigami and probably turned away more applicants than any other Division so she had duties to coax interesting people into applying. Maybe Setsuna would fit the bill.

“Thank you, I appreciate your help. We will need to go to the covered market over by the Tanaka Estates, there is a special type of sauce I need that only they stock. I know it's a fair distance, but perhaps we can talk as we travel. I am curious to hear about what you are doing here Setsuna-san, are you waiting to be admitted to a Division or are you in between a position?” Kiriko began to walk as she talked, shifting to the middle of the road so that he could follow along at her side. The warmth of the paved street wafted upward heating her feet and legs as if she was near a crispy fire. The path here was narrow due to the distinctly reduced traffic in this area. The primary locations for souls in Seireitei seemed to be near the Barracks or the Noble Estates. Many shops or other utility buildings existed and the flow of traffic grew thicker the further they walked.

Kiriko stood tall and confident as she strode down the street without any indication of her own poor health. Her nose began to tickle again but somehow she withheld the sneeze this time, pinching her fingers and breathing shallowly to suppress the mighty allergies. Glancing sidelong at Setsuna she began to wonder. He seemed the physical type, certainly tall and broad enough to be a capable fighter even if his clothing and bearing at the least implied some sort of radical bent. Unorthodox people had a hard time in the Gotei where discipline was paramount. Certainly there were places for them where they could prosper but she didn't think it was easy getting to that spot. What were the reasons for Setsuna's unemployment? Or was she even assuming too much? Perhaps he had just been visiting someone at the building? There were no indications on his clothes to give someone an idea of a Division but that wasn't always a conclusive argument that someone was unaffiliated. With her curiosity peaked Kiriko awaited an answer from the man as different scenarios and plausible stories filled her head in the meantime.  

WC: 830 | GP: 16 | GP Total: 49

Kiriko walked along the path, her eyes scanning their surroundings in quick bursts. She had never really felt unsafe within Seireitei but nonetheless her training dictated a constant awareness. Kiriko wasn't the strongest fighter, and she wasn't the best assassin either, but she knew the arts well enough to understand that even in the calm of a busy street inside the safest place in Soul Society there lurked dangers. She could never quite put it past a skilled opponent to know those very same arts, and her ability to catch on to enemy reiatsu had always been rather poor. It was something she actively tried to work on, spending many hours now while in her office trying to probe the nearby area and figure out who was where. It was like slogging through mud though, extremely tiring and often an exercise in futility as the energies surged and melted into each other. It was only with the stronger Shinigami that she felt more capable of tracking them. She always knew for instance when her Captain was in the Annex, a powerful heat and presence that stood steady in her mind's eye. She felt most at calm during those times when he could be felt in the room over, times which had mercilessly grown shorter and shorter now that he had been called away to Hueco Mundo for such a great length of time.

On the street Kiriko felt even less prepared. Walking into an ambush was the most dangerous thing to do for a Nibantai member. They were the ones primed to enact ambushes. If it happened the other way around then often their best tactic had been stolen from them leaving a Shinigami unprepared for full out combat. That was the one thing she grudgingly gave the Fifth, they were so stupid that they didn't care for tactics which had the unintended bonus of making them skilled at any type of fighting. The key word there being skilled – because Kiriko honestly thought the Fifth's only real offensive abilities were brute force. Just because they could beat their way out of a paper bag didn't mean they were people to look up to. Still, she kept that fatal flaw in mind every day. It was her job to keep her people alive, and that meant plans and training and war games. If she could force it down the Nibantai's throat that overspecialization wasn't a good thing than maybe a few more would live when they should have died.

Filled with these grim thoughts, Kiriko barely noticed the breeze that tugged along the smell of spring or the leaves that twirled and danced across the vagaries of wind before dropping artlessly to the ground. What she did notice was the narrowing of the streets as stalls began to crop up, people selling various goods and food, hoping to capitalize on the activity of such a beautiful day. Turning her attention to Setsuna as he answered her question, Kiriko began to wonder. The Sixth and the Second? She couldn't recall seeing Setsuna's application on her desk, so evidently he was being honest about his physical prowess. It was almost hilarious that competition existed between the Divisions like this, that she would feel jealous for having lost such a potential recruit to the Sixth. Well, at the very least they might have some use for him. She would hate to see his skills squandered.

The notion of trying to persuade him to retract his application to the Sixth and apply to the Second reared its ugly head and Kiriko contemplated it for a few seconds as they walked. This here was a smart man, and also one filled with purpose and respect for the Gotei too if he had honestly decided not to try for the Nibantai because he felt he wasn't right for it. More often then not they got applicants seeking glory without a thought spared towards their fit. She liked to send them off to the Fifth and sometimes in private Kiriko even laughed to herself over the expressions she imagined on her contemporaries faces when they were accosted by such poor specimens. The cast offs of the Second were bountiful and someone had to take them up.

“I wouldn't worry, the Sixth is a respectable Division. I am sure they will help you to advance and hone your skills,” she soothed in a very political manner. Whatever happened she was not the type to sabotage another Division, they did that on their own easily enough without her help. They continued to walk for a short period until Setsuna worked up the courage to speak again, inquiring as to the curious nature of their expedition. Kiriko, in a rare moment of levity, laughed quietly before reigning in her amusement. Perhaps she should have taken offense or gotten ruffled feathers from someone asking as to her Captain like that. But in truth Kiriko found it humorous, because Setsuna was uninitiated he probably didn't realize the relationship a Division had. They were a family, certainly more so in the Second than some of the others in her opinion. But in situations like these she really didn't mind running errands for her Captain. Facing forward, Kiriko began to explain what must have appeared to be a mysterious situation, “I have very urgent duties. However I also live in the same building as my Captain, we share the space, and as such we work with each other as fellow spirits. He cooks and I find that I have more time to do the shopping, it's an exchange of sorts.” Kiriko glanced back over her shoulder, a wry smile adorning her lips as she kept walking, “Being a part of something, a Division, it's not all just protocol. You are a group collected around a central theme and duty, you train and eat and sleep together. You will soon find that you wouldn't mind helping out a comrade, even if its with something as simple as shopping. You might even find that it brings you closer together.”

WC: 1012 | GP: 20 | GP Total: 69

Kiriko glanced around, her eyes sharp as she watched for the small alleyway that often was a shortcut on days such as these when the streets were packed with wanderers. As they continued their jaunt the two Shinigami had gotten closer and closer to major areas of population, including having passed the main road that would have brought them to the Academy if they had turned down it. The change in density was obvious, from the freshly cobbled roads to the steady stream of spirits. Most everyone here was a Shinigami, dressed in black and striding down the street in a purposeful manner. But here and there lurked other spirits, the workers who tended to the shops or those from Rukongai who where in Seireitei on some sort of business. The splash of color from their yukata was so striking that Kiriko couldn't help but wistfully remember her own days in Rukongai. It had been a very long time since she had worn anything other than the black shihakusho, the crisp material smooth and plain against her back. Kiriko had little concern for fashion and she rather liked that her uniform signified she was one of the choice Shinigami, but such utilitarian thoughts never really totally swept away her appreciation for the bright hues and patterns that normal souls wore.

She appreciated that kind of warning system though. If there was a visiting soul from Rukongai it was very hard for them to hide amongst the masses of black garbed Shinigami. There was rarely trouble from those quarters because of that since it was so easy to keep an eye on the few people in Seireitei even if they had not officially announced their presence. That was part of the feeling of safety within Soul Society. Everyone was relegated. You couldn't easily slip between districts in the Rukongai and it was even harder to bypass the gates around Seireitei without the proper paperwork. Security was such a golden standard, though Kiriko felt sometimes as if she was one of the only people who understood how fragile that reality was. All these dangerous shifts in the political climate, with Gilgamesh declaring war on Hueco Mundo and succeeding in the Hollow's subjugation, it just got one to thinking. And Kiriko was paranoid enough already. It wasn't hard to look at these sun splashed walls and imagine the danger of an invasion. Who now had that power though? With the Hollow-breeds under the heel of her Captain's capable feet she couldn't exactly imagine the humans gathering any great number of people who even knew of Soul Society. Those facts didn't stop her from shivering though, each time she looked at the smiling faces of the people walking by, their frivilous chatter so focused on momentary pleasures. Sometimes Kiriko pushed her own Division too hard, trying to get them all ready for the next conflict. She wondered looking at the youthful spirits on this street if that was really a bad thing. At least her own responsibility was fulfilled and Kiriko could rest somewhat more content knowing that her men were as strong as they could be right now.

Trying to push those dark thoughts away, Kiriko realized that her nose had stopped that burning itch as if her body had locked away the allergies simply by thinking of such ugly truths. Feeling the presence of Setsuna at her back she wondered how well such fresh meat like him would survive if Gilgamesh's plans for world domination were to proceed. What did Kiriko know though? She was just a Lieutenant, she hadn't even ever met Gilgamesh so all she could claim for information were rumors and whispered stories. That wasn't the basis for any true intelligence.

As Setsuna responded to her earlier remarks Kiriko tried to focus on their conversation and put aside such worries for the time being. She was just one Shinigami on the quest for groceries, it wasn't so hard to focus on that now was it? Her duties were complete for the day, some time to just relax and talk wouldn't be amiss. Exhaling softly she forced the tension to slide off her shoulders, letting her back and stomach relax from the tightly clenched ball they had become.

“I don't really know many of those who will become your peers, however people tend to find their own like in any Division they join so I would not be concerned. The Sixth has strong ideals but there will be many different people who are called by those tenants and you shouldn't worry about finding your place,” she called back to him, remembering her own journey through several different Divisions. Each time Aneue had pushed her out, but Kiriko had seen the same dynamic over and over again. With a new member people were like sharks on blood, they all crowded around, pushing and jostling to test that person's strength and personality. Everyone wanted to get along for the most part and Shinigami were always searching for that bond that could be called comrade.

She glanced up, pleased to have spotted the opening in the thickening crowd that showed the narrow alley she had been looking for. Dark colored awnings stretched out from the building fronts over the street providing some nice shade during the hottest part of the day. Glancing both ways down the street, Kiriko proceeded to cross while talking, “Come along this way, it is a shortcut and we only have a little bit more to go.”

Once out of the swath of people she felt herself loosen further, her hands smoothing out at her side as Kiriko scanned the empty side street. It was more or less an abandoned alley due to its narrow width with old musty boxes and backdoors lining the walls to her right and left. The smell of wet paper was strong and she wasn't surprised to see the collection of garbage cans filled with sawdust behind the large building that usually had a cacophony of sounds coming from it. A rather popular carpenter had set up shop there, his products ranging from tasteful furniture to carved symbols and jewelry. She had seen many a Shingami with one of his good luck charms in the shape of various gods or animals.

Proceeding down the empty back way Kiriko started up conversation again, “Have you ever been back here? The covered market is only a few blocks to the east. I'm afraid I don't know much about your circumstances Setsuna-san, are you just recently graduated from the Academy or have you been within Seireitei for a long time?”

WC: 1103 | GP: 22 | GP Total: 91

Kiriko looked around, a bit dismayed that this back route that was normally rather sunny had taken a turn for the worse today. She usually enjoyed taking this shortcut, because the sound cut out and one was left alone with their thoughts. The coolness of the brick buildings and the brilliance of the sunlight made the small pathway some sort of secret tunnel almost and she was usually very happy to have reason to take it. Today however the sun failed to pierce the sloping rooftops and she was left in the dank darkness, hurrying along to speed up her gait. It was too bad really, maybe she should have just taken the longer way? Too late now to go back, Kiriko soldiered on, trying to hold back her watering eyes as the wetness in the air seemed to trigger her allergies again.

Squinting tightly she held her breath, unwilling to do something so decorous as sneeze in front of Setsuna. After a tense struggle the urge slowly dissipated until all that was left was an odd taste in her mouth and an itchy nose, sighing internally she looked up ahead at the opening back onto a main street with both pleasure and relief. They exited the shadowed pathway after only a minute or so of walking but it had felt like an eternity underground or some such travail. With the fresh sunlight filtering down across her face and neck Kiriko felt her earlier mood of congeniality return. She really was glad that Setsuna had come to help her.

They turned left and walked for a few minutes more, and during that time period Kiriko spoke up again. “I see. It can be disorientating to graduate and yet not immediately go into service. I wouldn't worry too much Setsuna-san, even if the Sixth finds some fault with you there are the other Gotei Divisions and it is not uncommon for new recruits to move around to find their proper fit.” By the time she was done the road had straightened and revealed itself to be a medium sized courtyard directly across from a building complex. Brightly colored fabric flapped in the wind as the cloth tied up in the form of a canopy over the stalls and tables laden with goods shuddered and danced beneath the wind's touch.

This particular bazaar was Kiriko's favorite, the main reason being that it often had all of the strange ingredients that Tsukimiya wanted, but also because it was simply so beautiful. People tied strips of colored cloth to the posts demarcating their stalls and everything seemed to shimmer in the noonday sun like what Kiriko imagined an ocean would look like, with fish swimming and darting between poles.

“Do you want anything Setsuna-san? It shouldn't take me that long to pick up the things on my list if you want to go browse.” Kiriko scanned the stalls with a keen eye, swiftly spotting the sight of each shop owner she was looking for.

WC: 500: | GP: 10 | Total GP: 101