Toying Around (P)

A new day in the Gotei and a new day to not so respectably skip out on actually working. She hated this place and how much she had to work for absolutely no real cause. There was nothing to do, nothing to defend, and nothing that she personally cared about. Her only friend at the current moment was doing his duty and following orders like he was supposed to. So, what was she supposed to do? All she could do was hope he didn't find out she wasn't where she was supposed to be because he might really not like that. He probably already knew though, which meant he may make his way to check on her eventually today. What was she going to do until then?

Kat would find herself draped over the roof of some random squad building, although it seemed to be a bunch of mindless freaks squabbling and fighting about. Wait... Was this the fifth division? Kat would find herself watching individuals enter and exit the squad, but nobody seemed to notice her presence. She wondered what they would say if they did notice. She wondered what their Captain would say to her about loitering in their squad. Wasn't he considered a dog to her father? Surely, he wouldn't say too much to her. Nobody ever seemed to bother with her for fear of her father.

A normal day for Kuro typically revolved around odd jobs around the barracks. He truly enjoyed helping people, so if it meant delivering paperwork or just helping some new recruits, he was happy to do it. The problem was that, thanks to his shy personality, as well as his relatively small stature, people assumed they could take advantage of him. Naturally, he resented those people, though perhaps less openly than he should. As it was, he was still amazed at having gotten through the academy, and the fact that they wouldn't just decide he couldn't cut it as a shinigami had yet to really set in. That was why he had been hauling around massive loads of paperwork all day, actually.

He huffed as he finally finished his task, only slightly annoyed. If nothing else, such tasks alleviated the boredom he constantly felt. No one wanted to train with him, and training by himself only got so far. At the very least, he had plenty of time to cater to other skills he hoped to develop, despite a lack of training in those areas as well. Kuro sighed, running a hand through his unruly green hair, looking up towards the sky. Usually, it helped him relax. Usually, there was not a woman draped over the roof he was looking at. "Eh? What're you doing up there?" Kuro blinked in surprise, not sure who this was, or why a roof would be a good place to be.

"Interesting," Kat would say to herself noticing a younger looking shinigami that had actually taken the time to realize her presence. It wasn't a technique she normally used, but shunpo seemed like her best bet to confront this mysterious kid. From the roof to the ground would only take a fraction of a moment before Kat was directly in front of the boy. Her eyes would scan him up and down leaving almost no room for any sort of reaction. It was obvious that he was newer to this squad considering he looked as though he had been run ragged.

"Is your hair actually green? It's kind of wild. Don't you brush it?" Kat had absolutely no manners and she certainly wasn't sorry about it. She could have cared less about acting proper and being a lady. Simply stated, Kat did whatever she wanted all the time. Although she was about 5 inches shorter than her acquaintance, Kat definitely had more of a confident and dominant aura than he did. She wondered just how interesting this could be for her.

"W-what? Of course its green. No matter what I do, it just does this." Kuro answered before even realizing the absurdity of the questions. His hair had always been curly, and as a result, fairly... poofy, for lack of a better term. At least it was soft. "Nevermind that, who are you?" The younger Shinigami was unsure what to make of this girl. She spoke carelessly, and seemed to be completely unaware, or perhaps uncaring, towards decorum. In that case, she was likely someone high enough on the totem pole to get away with such behavior. He knew if he tried... Well, he wasn't sure what would happen, but it would likely be unpleasant. His green eyes glanced over her form for a second, making him realize she was, if nothing else, physically attractive. Though shorter than him, she exuded confidence that made him feel much, much smaller than her. Not that such a thing was rare, really, just... he was used to it from his direct superiors, not from a stranger who seemed completely at ease. Kuro, by comparison, must have seemed plain. Beyond his freckles and green hair, he didn't truly believe he looked out of the ordinary, particularly for a shinigami. With the basic uniform representing his status in Squad Five, he had little choice for his preferred style of clothing. The only other thing that stuck out was the fact that his Zanpokuto was so massive it could only be placed on his back, for it was as tall as him, and almost as wide. 

In a way, he already felt a sense of envy for her. He could not pretend like nothing mattered to him, for everything mattered so much. He cared too much, because all his life one step was all it took for all his progress to be rendered pointless. Every step had to be controlled, every mistake rectified as soon as possible. Whoever this girl was, she certainly did not have that fear hanging over her. "I'm Kuro Shikyo, of Squad Five." He introduced himself, gaining back some solidity to his tone, instead of his previously wavering, panicked voice. It was easier to present a front of confidence when there was a structure behind how he was supposed to act. Maybe one day he would have the confidence to wing it, as he did with combat. 

Now that he could see her more directly, he could feel her confidence, as well as her relaxed state, through Empathic Presence. No doubt she could equally feel his nervousness and boredom. Despite the overwhelming concern that he might do something bad enough to lose his status as a shinigami entirely, the sense of boredom would be unnaturally strong. Unlike the nervousness and fear, it was a constant. With his mind almost constantly in overdrive, it was to be expected that mundane chores would do little to sate his boredom, causing it to build up over time, very likely the reason he came to love physical combat so much, as well as why he was utterly horrendous at Kido and any form of control. The fact that his sword was as massive as it was could be attributed to said lack of control.

He seemed taken aback by the very blunt question she had asked about his hair, but he answered in such a nervous tone that it was almost enough to make Kat grin. She would look at his hair as he explained that it always just did whatever it was that it was currently doing. "Have you tried actually putting product in it or taking care of it properly? Don't get me wrong. I like it. It's not tame like the rest of these lame brainless freaks think it has to be," Kat would continue talking about his hair for a multitude of reasons while simultaneously ignoring the fact that he had asked who she was. Although, the biggest reason she continued on being the reaction she had gotten out of him moments ago with a mild hint of actual interest. However, she wondered what else would make him tick as she looked for other features about him that might interest her. "Oh, wooooow," Kat would say obviously surprised as she looked at his face. "You have little freckles. How cute. It's not very often that I've seen someone with them. Actually, it's very rare. You're a very interesting boy, you know?" She wasn't sure why she cared so much about this particular person specifically, but it had to have something to do with his fragile nature. Kat was always drawn to those that were easily outshined by her persistent personality. She could tell he had an overwhelming sense of nervousness, but she was more surprised to be able to tell he was insanely bored over anything else. How could she tell? She wasn't quite sure, but it made things much more fun.

Finally, he would introduce himself, but his tone of voice was much more steady than it had been before. "Well, Kuro Shikyo of Squad Five," Kat would say turning around to look at the obvious Squad Five sign upon the building, "Looks like you're in the right place." The teen would grin before turning back towards him and finally introducing herself, "The name's Kat. Kat Mazi. Yes, daughter of the Captain Commander, Ika Mazi. Blah Blah Blah. Fourth Seat Squad One." She would roll her eyes introducing herself because she knew that the moment anyone heard of her name or her place within the noble house of Mazi they would begin to act strangely. The only ones that didn't react awkwardly to her introduction would be members of other noble houses.

With just a few sentences, she had drawn his attention quite easily. With a few more, she proved his initial assumptions correct. Blunt, informal, and carefree, with a high enough rank to get away with it, added to her connect to the Captain Commander. It quickly became apparent what type of person she was, though whatever depths were hiding in her mind was another story entirely. Even Empathic Presence only sensed the basics, and deduction, while extremely useful, took time to fully understand someone. In this case, he felt he had a decent enough understanding of Katana Mazi to communicate in a way that would have less chances of him doing something offensive. Ironically, this meant ignoring protocol and decorum in favor for blunt honesty, something he doubted she experienced often, and would likely appreciate. Despite his demeanor, people were something that Kuro understood deeply, even before his death.

"I like my hair like this, honestly. Every time I try to get it less poofy, it feels terrible." He shrugged, seeming a bit less nervous than before, though there was an undertone of it remaining. His face still flushed at her comments on his freckles, but he held it together to at least speak. He was very unused to being complimented, let alone by a cute girl who, despite really being three times his age, looked close to his age. "T-thanks, I prefer to be interesting instead of..." He took a quick glance behind him, but did not continue. He doubted he would have to explain how utterly dull most of his contemporaries were. That was if he even had the gall to. While he did not mind being honest with someone who obviously preferred it, he still did not like insulting people. 

Her light mocking of his introduction almost made him roll his eyes. It wasn't his fault his instructors at the academy had been all about protocol. They insisted that, since his control was so poor, he would have to make great impressions to be considered at all useful. Even now such lessons stuck in his head. Still, he could adapt to this kind of situation! That was what he spent years learning how to do. No matter what, he would adapt and learn, even from something as simple as this meeting. "I was kinda worried you'd be one of those prim and proper types" He rubbed the back of his head, a nervous smile on his face. "To be honest, I'm glad you aren't. All this formality..." Yes, he could be formal, but damn if it wasn't a waste of time. What was the point of it all when it only slowed people down, or made them less effective? "But anyway, it's nice to meet you." He added.

Well, it seemed that he had decided his hair was acceptable in his mind, which was a bit of a bummer as she couldn’t exactly ask any more questions about it without seeming simply annoying. However, she did agree with the fact that he liked his hair and couldn’t be swayed simply by pressure to change it or try to. The teen would nod before sighing, “Well, that’s respectable I suppose. I wouldn’t change it either. It’s unique.” It wasn’t often that Kat had given anyone a compliment ever. The interaction had started off as a way to tease him, but she genuinely did like his hair. She liked anything against the norm and she would encourage those things be kept up. She encouraged uniqueness and she certainly wouldn’t stand for all of the prissy, high and might my to stomp it out.

Again, he would begin a statement, yet wouldn’t necessarily finish it. “You’d rather be more interesting than, what? Ignorant? Mindless? A puppet on a string doing what the master has expected you to? Well, you won’t be nearly interesting enough if you can’t say what you want to say. You’re a step beyond most of the mice here, but you’re too afraid aren’t you?” Kat would ask rather bluntly crossing her arms as an annoyance would rise up within her. “You don’t want to say what you’re thinking, right? You don’t want to ‘face the consequences’. Well, fuck the consequences. If you’re right, then you’re right. Who cares? Take whatever repercussions they give you and deal with it. At least you wouldn’t be some pawn only able to think through those better than you. And they will be as long as you can’t think for yourself or express yourself.” It seemed that most of her speech had been in a rather loud, irritated tone. She wasn’t chastising him more than she was attempting to showcase her opinion. Normally, it wasn’t a good idea to take Kat so seriously, however some of what she said would hold truth behind it. Although she expressed herself in more of a childish manner and was more rebellious than others liked, some of what she said could be held in a higher reguard if taken with a higher level of caution.

“I’m not going to apologize, but I guess you could say that I am a bit... hot-headed. Anyway, I guess meeting you wasn’t terrible or anything. We’re going to work on you speaking your mind more. Just saying,” it was almost as if Kat was pouting, although it was unsure why.

"Unique..." He recalled synonyms of that word being hurled at him. Freak, weirdo, abnormal, aberrant. His time at the academy flashed within his mind, despite his desire to forget such times. There were never any physical incidents, but what had been said was enough to leave its mark, even now. His initial desire to avoid consequences came from the idea that the teachers there could do nothing to him, if he did not step out of line. Of course, that meant he had to hide who he was behind a veneer of respect. As if any of them deserved such adulation. He had been considered a prodigy in the physical arts, but as such, he was usually judged to be a fool by his other teachers. Ironic then, that he came to understand their lessons beyond they did. Not that it was too surprising. Academy teachers were hardly Captains, after all, so a student surpassing them was not as rare as it should be. In Kuro's mind, the best at their respective skills should be the ones teaching those skills.

She picked up his hesitance to say what he truly meant, but that was no surprise. Her suggestion that he should be more direct about it, however, was. He figured the hint would be enough, but... she was right. He knew, intellectually, that he could not keep bowing his head if he wanted to rise. He'd made a promise long ago, to become the best he could be, but somewhere along the way, that meant kowtowing to fools and protocol. Kuro starred at her for a moment, working out the best response in his head. He wasn't just doing this as some way to make an impression, but because he knew he needed to change. God knows it would be a long road, but struggle was nothing new for him, either. "I was going to say weak, honestly." He admitted, his face neutral, but lacking the nervousness from before. He could at least spend a bit of time being brave. Likewise, the sense of nervousness he presented through Empathic Sense would dissipate, revealing something... powerful behind it. A resolve that had yet to waver, even as his fear and hesitation covered over it.

...Then that nervousness came rushing back, if with a much lesser feeling, as she suggested she would be helping him with speaking his mind. "Eh?! What do you mean work on it?" Gone was the previous seriousness, but there was still a lingering sense that something had changed. Truth be told, in the time since he last saw his mother, he had almost forgotten his purpose. He almost became a cog, like the ones he spoke of before. Those who had no idea who they were, merely living out meek lives without anything to truly delve into. If he was right, that was the true reason it took so long for so many to become strong. They lost themselves to the nonsense of daily life. One day, perhaps, Kuro would think back to this day and thank Kat profusely for the reminder of who he wanted to be.

He was very quiet for a very long moment, but Kat also hadn't stopped talking all the while. So, it was probably a good thing he hadn't interrupted her or her temper may have been directed at him. However when he did finally speak, Kat didn't expect the response she had been given. He would ultimately speak exactly what had been on his mind in the moment. A small bit of confidence had shown through as he had spoken what he wanted to say. Kat would watch him for a moment as a grin would slowly make its way across her features. He actually meant it and for a brief while he wasn't nervous about it. So, he did have it in him.

However, the nervousness would quickly replace itself as he would react to what she had said to him. In this moment, Kat would sigh looking at him with a slightly disappointed expression. "Don't give me that!" The teen would yell before crossing her arms and shaking her head. "Come on, now. I just saw it! YOU just saw it!" She would continue to speak loudly before gesturing to his person. "YOU just spoke your mind, did you not? You did it and you weren't afraid. You were confident in yourself. You knew exactly what you wanted to say and didn't hold back. You can obviously do it!" Kat would say before looking around at the total number of zero people that were paying attention to them. "Oh, and would you look at that. Absolutely nobody around to care. Nobody is punishing you. No consequences. Interesting how that works," Again, a grin would cross the young shinigami's features before she would point at him. "Every time you don't say what you want to say, I'm going to force it out of you. So, expect to learn how to be more aggressive and more confident."

Kuro rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed by her words. True, no one had heard, or even paid attention, but... "Some of my opinions could get me into... pretty terrible trouble." He chuckled mirthlessly. Despite being a primarily physical fighter, Kuro was far from stupid. He knew that the shinigami were not the heroes they often pretended to be. He knew how to read between the lines, and what he saw... Well, there was a reason he tended to keep his distance from the older generation. Power beget complacency, which led to a hatred of criticism. Without a doubt, he wanted to change things, but he had to play the waiting game for now. It wasn't just about power, but influence as well. He recalled several people who tried to change things in his district of the Rukongai, only to have unfortunate accidents shortly before they could truly get moving. Whether or not Seireitei played by the same rules did not matter. He would not take that chance, not when he only trusted himself to go the distance to improve things.

Still, he appreciated her attempts, if nothing else. "But you're right. I should be more upfront about certain things. I'm still learning how things work here, and people tend to clam up when you say the wrong things. Lead you astray, get you into trouble beyond what you actually say or do." He remembered the academy well. It had been fairly recent, after all. How his staunch beliefs had driven many against him, made his already bad reputation even worse. Were it not for his physical capabilities, he doubted he would have graduated as quickly as he did. He just had to be patient for now... "You sound like you want to spend more time together, though. Careful, people may get the wrong idea." He grinned cheekily. Maybe teasing her like that wasn't the best idea, but she did say he should say what was on his mind. If it happened to get his ass kicked, well he was just listening to her advice.

Kat would listen to his words as she would nod her head seeming to agree with what he was saying. "Sure, but if you know how to get yourself out of trouble it shouldn't be a problem. Maybe I just get into trouble too often. I guess I just know how to deal with things." The teen would shrug before thinking about the many times she had gotten into trouble or god forbid challenged her father to a fight. Anyone would think she was crazy at this point, but maybe it made her a more interesting person. Maybe it made her stronger, more fierce, and able to survive when the mere mention of her father wasn't enough to save her.

However, her thoughts would be interrupted by what the boy had said after the fact. Although she had asked him to speak his mind, Kat's face would turn bright red and her anger was about as burning hot as her own flames. "Nobody would get any ideas because I would turn them to ash!" Kat was now yelling, as was normal from the hotheaded shinigami. Soon, she would simply cross her arms and begin to speak in a loud tone, although the yelling had ceased. "I don't even care enough to know your name, first of all, so who would think I could care any more about you than acquaintances? Besides, if you irritate me any more, I'll have my protector deal with you personally."

It had, indeed turned out to be a mistake. He'd expected an amusing flustered reaction, but this was ridiculous! That kind of anger should be reserved for serious problems, not tiny jests. Still, did she realize she was proving everything he said right? He'd spoken his mind, joke or not, and her reaction was exactly as he had said. He was honestly disappointed to once more be proven right. All the more reason for him to lean into his quiet mask. "You..." Kuro felt a bit irritated, regardless of the situation. He had tried to be friendly about it, but apparently that joke went too far for her. He knew he had problems socializing before, but this was... something else. Plus she even said she didn't care enough to know his name! He'd already introduced himself earlier.

That irritation showed itself in his immediately changing expression, going from a sly grin to a completely neutral state, his shoulders no longer tense. He'd never been one to show his irritation directly, at least not over such matters. When he was truly angry, perhaps, but this was not that. Not by a longshot. "You've proven my point. Say the wrong thing, and someone gets set off. Even more, you just threatened me with your protector for a simple jest. You are the exact kind of person who keeps others from being able to reveal their true selves. I'm done here." Perhaps before this conversation, Kuro would have backed down quickly, without a hint of the fire he had inside. Now, though, he understood this girl well enough, and he knew he could not let her just casually walk over him and be on his way.

It had never been about pride. Pride got people killed. For Kuro, it was about results. If the result of him not arguing with someone was they left him alone, or stopped talking to him, then the results were generally worth it. He had opened up, however slightly, and immediately set someone off. If anything, this served as a reminder that he needed to get strong enough that no such threats mattered. Strength meant you could change things. Without power, you couldn't protect anything, not even yourself. So it was power, then, that he needed. Not friends. These thoughts in mind, Kuro turned back to the barracks, the neutral expression not leaving his face as he went to get back to work. Perhaps some sparring matches would clear his head.

Kat seemed highly amused by the reaction she got after her little hot headed rant. He seemed irritated by her response as shown first by his body language. He was no longer interested in the conversation with her as his face had gone from being bright to being dull. He had been so open before, but now he closed up unwilling to speak to her any further. His words seemed rather dramatic for the response she had given him, which only made her all the more entertained. Although he no longer smiled, Kat had begun to in a rather playful way yet again.

Kat would begin to laugh as the boy would run off towards his barracks, "So dramatic! You know, YOU just proved my point too. You can't handle conflict of any kind and instead, you choose to shut down. It doesn't matter if you express yourself as long as you can also stand up for who you are. You're too soft. It's not that big of a deal, but I'll leave you alone for now I guess. I'll be back, Kuro. So, look forward to it." The teen had called out to him as he tried to run off so quickly from her. A large grin could be seen on her face as she would turn towards her own barracks. She expected that she would be getting her daily visitor soon anyway.

Kat would begin to take a step before activating her shunpo to make her route that much quicker to navigate. Although he needed a lot of work and was definitely an introvert, Kat seemed to enjoy the kid. For what purpose? Well, she figured it would be fun to teach him a thing or two about not pouting so much. He may not like her, but that never stopped her from anything. Nobody liked her.

[exit]