[BSD-RP] Soul Society: Rukongai

[Shinigami]

Could he rely on the powers of her Shikai? Did she have complete mastery of it? These questions run its course, filling his mind. Arashi holds close an optimistic outlook, feeling that her response will be of some benefit, somehow. Of course, she has other skills, should the answer she gives does not pan-out in his favor. Nonetheless, he awaits her response, but one of the members from Head Quarters approaches with urgent news…
That much is apparent…”
Arashi shifts just his eyes, his midnight blue irises attaching to his form like glue. The man has his attention clearly.
"Lt. Suta! This river it... This isn't the source of the river sir!"
Disappointing information it is, and with this new intel, his plans may as well change. By how much he doesn’t know yet. His subordinate continues… Traveling beyond the point of the barrier to only examine his claims further.
"Sir, we still have a ways to go. Based on this Reiatsu the river is giving off it seems like it dips underground and continues on. This may just be a mere random exit point..."
Looking back towards the lake, how can this not be the source? Distraught, but only slightly, the Lieutenant sighs. He never expected for this mission to drag on longer than he anticipated. Before this mission was through, he’d imagine it being close to midnight. Fortunately, searching for the true source will not be too much of an issue. His subordinate has obtained its location through the method of sensory. His focus comes back to the Lieutenant, whose eyes never truly left him.
"Sir! Might I suggest we follow the river to its true source?"
What choice did he truly have? Though there is always one, no trace of this river can be left behind. A mere suggestion becomes the top priority of this mission. Lieutenant Suta nods, before his eyes close almost entirely, his smile still retained being the usual state of his expression. Make no mistake, he wasn’t exactly happy to hear the news. He has his orders, just as well as everyone else did here.
Unable to be ignored, Arashi turns towards Himari Shimi once again, the information he wanted in regards to her shikai holds its place. While he still awaits a response on this, new orders will be given, the course of his plans seemingly ever changing. He returned focus to the HQ affiliate.
”Lead the way to this source. Nothing can be left to chance. Drop the barrier for now and once we have a handle on things we can come back to assess the situation, should things change as a result of our actions at this new location.”
The other three hearing the orders, immediately dropping the barrier from the sky. They return to the group via Shunpo to continue the journey deeper into the depths of the Rukongai. What awaits them at the end of this expedition? However, his worries carry towards a different subject. His counterpart hasn’t interrupted, hasn’t said a thing the entire time… What has made him so quiet? What keeps him in the shadows even now when he can tell that his mind is rattling for a conclusion.

 

[Shinigami]

Yasu was just waiting for him to bite down on her fingers, but he complied, and gave her a single blink. After asking her question, she waited for his reaction… but it was nothing that she was looking for. What she was met with was confusion, pure confusion to her question. And he hadn’t responded as Kagewaki’s men would when she uttered the code decided since his departure. Yasu kept looking for some sort of answer to see if he would be hiding anything, even if he couldn’t speak outright. Sighing heavily, the lieutenant was contemplating on what else that she could do in order to wring what information that he may have had, out of him. Removing her hand away from his mouth, the slick black tendrils replaced her fingers, though it let him talk. Had he done anything else out of line, his tongue would be the first to go, and if choking on his own blood didn’t kill him, Yasu surely would.
She stayed straddled on top of him, her hands free of holding down his body, instead using her Shikai as a weight that would crush him had he even dared to move a step out of line. It ripped into the ground, practically cementing him down to the ground. With a heavy sigh, Yasu scratched at her scalp and peered down at the old man. It wasn’t the confusion that made her want to know more. There was a look behind that confusion that sparked her curiosity, and whatever he had to tell her, may help her on her mission.
“You know something. Whatever it is, spill it. I’d rather not harm a Rukongai citizen, despite you trying to steal and kill me.”
She tilted her head, peering down at the male and held a hand over his face, her fingers spread apart and began releasing another spout of black tendrils from the diamond.
“Do you think that you’re the worst man to roam these districts?” Her hand pressed flat against his cheek, and the wisps would tickle his skin. “I’ll let you in on a little secret… Those prisoners I mentioned, wouldn’t think twice about turning you into another corpse. Your worries should lie more with the person sitting right in front of you, that’s still thinking it over...”
Those venomous words she spoke were accompanied by a sickly sweet smile, a trademark of the lieutenant. A sly tongue masked beneath her usually dimwitted persona, Yasu patted away at his cheek and spoke in a tone that if anyone listening in would take it as two friends simply chatting away had it not been for the words uttered. She needed answers, and if making this man fear for his own life would make him talk, then she would do as much as she could.

 

[Shinigami]

Though the area proved to be a bit more seedy than average it seemed to contain nothing of importance. At least nothing on the scale she was looking for. Blowing her bangs out of her face with a frustrated groan she reached further our for Sakiko. Although she had not felt her for a short amount of time she had felt no reason to be concerned for her quite yet. Kazumi's wide net stretched only so far. There was a higher probability she had simply walked outside of Kazumi's ability.
This theory became less and less likely as more time went on. Many eyes still watching her every move she attempted to look for Sakiko's presence even further. She was well beyond any place she should have been. Not good... Every pair of eyes set on her, a sudden change in her demeanor would easily give her away. Instead she took a breath, preparing herself before looking up at the sky with a wistful smile on her face. Shuffling her feet as she took a few paces they acted as if independent; ankles wobbling until her right refused to hold her any longer sending her down to slam into the ground.
Curling up on the ground she allowed herself a moment to look once more. The woman was gone. Should Kazumi track her? No... Whatever had happened to Sakiko could be a shared fate if she followed in steps without preparation. She needed to return to Yasu. Crows around her growing somewhat as they watched the spectacle it was time to move out. Once more creating a mask of her face she rose it slowly at first, then lifted her entire upper body into a sitting position in a swift motion.

False tears pouring from her eyes she kept this pathetic facade, climbing to her feet with messy, jerky motions until they touched solid ground. And she ran. Exaggerated blubbering spilling from her mouth she rushed toward the nearest buildings that were devoid of people. As if embarrassed she slipped between them and out of sight, wary of any following her. None seemed to care to or were simply too confused to chase after her. But they were opportunists; that display of weakness would have them upon her soon like wolves. No longer being watched she was fleeing the area before any would even realize she wasn't between the buildings anymore.
Yasu was easy to find, her location having changed little. Hostility and aggression flitted through the sensations of her reiatsu. It seemed she was fighting someone though not with much difficulty. Arriving in the area to find the woman performing what could only be an interrogation, Kazumi's eyes hardened as the act was dropped. The man seemed to be little trouble for her alone, though Kazumi kept a wary eye on him as well as some distance. It seemed at the moment there was no one else with the man. Waiting to be addressed in any shape or form as to not disturb Yasu, Kazumi remained patient. She would speak only two words to her when she had a moment of the woman's time.
"She's gone."

 

[Shinigami]

He lays there, held, locked, secured under the weight and strength of the young woman. Still unable to speak, he can only stare at the frustrated woman. It was clear she had no intention to do anything further, not now at least. Though she didn’t move or act like a harmless, helpless resident of the Rukongai she didn’t behave like a cutthroat bandit or killer either.
Shinigami?
He pondered for a moment, studying the girl best he could.
“You know something. Whatever it is, spill it. I’d rather not harm a Rukongai citizen, despite you trying to steal and kill me.”
Finally, she speaks, her words reaffirming his assessment of the woman. While she’s probably fought, and maybe even killed once or twice, she wasn’t a killer. She lacked the air and fortitude. This was a woman on a mission, someone disciplined, trained. So...shinigami it was then. The strange swampy mesh adding to this assessment of course. It was anything but natural.
“Do you think that you’re the worst man to roam these districts?”
She speaks to him in her chilling tone, her hand touching his cheek as black tendrils tickle it.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret… Those prisoners I mentioned, wouldn’t think twice about turning you into another corpse. Your worries should lie more with the person sitting right in front of you, that’s still thinking it over...”
Again, she mentions these prisoners. Escapees from the Seireitei? This was interesting. He stares quietly at the woman, not chilled or frightened by her words. He’d already assessed and concluded her nature. She acted in a certain set of parameters, which means her behavior and actions could be predicted. He’d play along...for now.
”Bleh..cough cough.”
He clears his throat, mouth now cleared from her intrusive fingers. He turns his head to spit, as if expelling the taste of the girl from his mouth. It remains uncertain if this was instinctive or meant to get a rise out of the woman.
”I don’t know anything about these prisoners you keep mentioning. But-”
He tilts his head, his straw hat casting a looming shadow over his face, a single eye all that is visible from underneath.
”Word going around, the King of Thieves that’s been running things in the underbelly...is dead. Met a bit of trouble with a group of strange individuals, bit off more than he could chew.”
The man leans back, staring up at the sky for a moment, before his gaze finds its way back to his pink haired capturer.
”People been muttering about some strange happenings taking place in that old abandoned village. Been abandoned since most of them got slaughtered years back. Some folks assume they’re the ones who did in the thief, some are calling them some strange cult. Not sure if they’re your prisoners or not but...they definitely can’t be from around here.”
He closes a single eye, shrugging best he can as he keeps the woman well within his gaze. He studies her expression best he can, having told her all he knew...which, in truth was mostly just rumor and street talk.
The hint of movement from his peripheral catches his eye. He tilts his head, shifting his gaze to watch the approach of a blue haired woman. Her steps seemed deliberate, an acquaintance of this pink haired one perhaps?
"She's gone."
The woman says. Interesting, her words lead him to assuming they came in a group. Was it someone they were meant to be watching or guarding? He remained silent, ears remaining attentive as he lay there.

 

[Shinigami]

”Bleh..cough cough.”
She watches as he clears his throat and spits out the taste of her fingers from his mouth. Honestly, her fingers either tasted like chocolate or her hair, which didn’t really have a taste in the first place. Wiping her hand off on her torn and tattered hakama, Yasu listened in closely as he began speaking his peace.
"I don’t know anything about these prisoners you keep mentioning. But-”
Yasu’s attention is piqued as he shifts his head to look at her from beneath the brim of his hat, a single iris peeking from below.
"Word going around, the King of Thieves that’s been running things in the underbelly...is dead. Met a bit of trouble with a group of strange individuals, bit off more than he could chew.”
He leans back and this gives Yasu the slightest change of expression. Her brows furrow and eyes slant into a bit of a glare. Once he managed to bring his gaze back to her, she stayed silent, but the short exhale through her nose would beckon him to continue.
"People been muttering about some strange happenings taking place in that old abandoned village. Been abandoned since most of them got slaughtered years back. Some folks assume they’re the ones who did in the thief, some are calling them some strange cult. Not sure if they’re your prisoners or not but...they definitely can’t be from around here.”
This is all that he gives her, and even if she waits for more, it never comes. While this may be some rumor, Yasu knew that she would have to confirm it herself. Going back to Kyomu based on the words of a casual robber isn’t something that she wants to deal with. If Kagewaki was dead, then she would need to bring back his body, if there was one to bring back at all. She was still mulling over what she could do next when she heard the shuffling of rubble come towards them. Without turning to look, by the scent that she carried, Yasu knew that it was Kazumi that had returned back, but without--
"She's gone."
“...Is that so? Then it was my mistake to leave you two alone.”
Left with just one out of the pair only caused displeasure to cross Yasu’s expression and she slowly rose up and off of the bandit. Dusting herself off, the black masses of her Shikai swarming to replace her weight. What was she to do now? If the King of Thieves was dead, then what of his subordinates.... Unless they had also perished or turned on him? Now that Sakiko was gone, they had little time left to act. If Kazumi was unable to find her or even notice her slipping away, it meant that the prisoners were on to them, and they needed to be apprehended, or this would never stop.
Glancing back down at the man, she reached down with a single hand and hoisted him up as if he were luggage. As he moved, the tendrils swarmed around his arms to keep them locked in and pressed firmly against his sides, sinking past the fabric of his clothes and spreading across his flesh. Using her other hand, she removed his hat and tossed it up in the air a few times before moving to rest it against her own head.
“Direct us to this abandoned village. If the King of Thieves is dead as you say, then this is your chance to loot his treasures. I’m sure a stone-cold bandit like you can handle a few bodies, especially as quickly as you brandished your blade.”
She adjusted the areas where her Shikai resided, leaving his legs partially operational so that he could walk once she put him into a standing position. He could run, but how far would he actually get? He could cross her, but really, how much would he gain by doing so?
“Let’s go, Micchan.”
Yasu was still careful to use nicknames. Even if the man before them had figured out they were shinigami, their division and position was still a mystery.
“It’s time to meet the King of Thieves, dead or alive.”