She watches the footage with the others and all she could think about is how volatile this man could potentially be. If he is the sore loser, will he use Bankai to decimate all of Karakura Town with this infection? Can the three of them alone contain it without causing more damage? She takes some solace in the fact that she didn’t have her friend go and investigate him since that would put her well within range of his potential Bankai usage. While these thoughts were running rampant in the back of her mind she was thinking of her own survival at the front, if she were exposed to these spores how could she survive? As she rubs her chin the scientist in the room speaks up about his own thoughts on the Bankai.
"Fortunately, I'm quite well versed in life as a whole. Going off of this, there are countless plants and fungi that can produce similar results, on a much much smaller scale of course. Going off the reaction of those poor souls, it could be airborne spores, pollen, it could be a vapour or gas. The mechanism of delivery is fairly similar regardless of what it falls under, but how it deals out death is what intrigues me the most. Of course I could be entirely wrong and it's not at all biological. Either way, it's widespread, so you are correct, sweet detective, risk assessment is crucial here."
”While I was stationed in Naruki as a student I learned about something like that, airborne spores that are ejected from the host and let the air carry them as far as it can. It’s just reproduction between species of mushrooms and flowers while being heavily dependent on airflow, but in this case it toxic on a grand scale…”
She examines the video, noting the fact that it was done in an enclosed location, no airflow meaning no air to carry any of it anywhere.
”Are either of you good with Kido? If so, that could be our way to contain his Bankai from spreading out and harming others, at least beyond the initial release site. Cut off the airflow by boxing him in and- Shit he's a former Kido Corps member he could potentially counter that…”
A good idea comes to her mind but an equally good counter reaches her mind shortly after, making her go quiet for a moment as she continues thinking about how to disrupt any potential air flow. She had already thought about using her Shikai to surround the release in a cage of fire that would burn away all the spores or vapor but there is an issue in that as well. During her time in Tenth, when she needed to use her Zanpakuto, she had to lead Hollows to construction sites or abandoned outskirts in order to use her abilities freely without collateral damage. Being in the middle of Karakura town also negates her usage of her Shikai in that manner. She bites her thumb, upset that everything she is thinking of has a counter or a downside to it.
"I may have a contingency but it may only buy us a window. If we can secure a measure that can at least stanch the hazard from progressing - it may be enough."
A window of opportunity, what can be done during that window, what can she contribute to this that won’t be detrimental. An idea comes to mind but it is all determined on the positioning of Elk at the time of this window being created which she cannot rely on, hell even her own Bankai is out of the question for any of this due to the ambient heat it puts out so she cannot make a counter play with it. She so badly wishes this was something taking place in the Seireitei so she could go all out with her flames, but it seems like he is one move away from checkmate on them and the frustrating thing about it is that's probably by design. She then thinks about what Kisho would do in this situation. The mental image of Karakura town being flooded with lava crosses her mind and she shakes her head to dispel the thought instantly. Finally she thinks about her approach, Kisho’s fanatical way of doing things had crept into her psyche and only made her think of violence against Elk. Not all who go AWOL are necessarily evil or bad people.
"I'm gonna be real with you guys. I'm confident I could work around this now, unfortunately seeing as we're messing with C46, I don't think we have the time for me to do some prep. If we had the time I could put together something to help isolate whatever area we need to, in case the funny fugitive gets trigger happy. Sad ti-!"
”Hey, what if we just… Talk to him? We are thinking about attacking and killing him but, what if we just talked, and tried to understand why he left, why he took the Hogyoku. I’ve dealt with my fair share of deserters and most of them fled during the war out of fear of death or other pressures placed upon them and most of them turned themselves in. Either returning to duty or allowing themselves to be sent to the Maggots Nest.”
She knows what she is suggesting sounds blasphemous but if C46 is involved in hesitating to apprehend Elk then it may be for good reason. They may know about his Bankai as well, a multilayered reason for not wanting to agitate him. If that's the case then they must go in with intentions to not agitate him at all. Before she could voice this her senses spiked, her hand instinctively going for her Zanpakuto, only to realize she had left it on the dining table upstairs. Luckily what was going on above was not close enough to them to be concerned with immediate danger. She grits her teeth, feeling embarrassed about making such a rookie mistake of leaving her Zanpakuto behind like that. She was so caught up in the flow of catching a traitor she didn’t even think about it until this exact moment where she felt the need to defend herself.
"Well I guess if there was any chance of some interference, we won't have to worry about that now. It's time to play our hand."
”Right…I assume we have to head back up that way anyway so I’ll grab my Zanpakuto along the way. Let’s please consider approaching and talking peacefully, yeah?”
Kuwashii silently beat herself up about forgetting her Zanpakuto, she let her excitement get to her too much. If Kisho were here he’d kill her for this mistake, luckily he isn’t here and he will never know about this happening because she will take this little mishap with her to the grave. Aside from reprimanding herself she is ready to take action with the group.