”I am glad to see you well, Captain Kurayami!!”
Shizukana’s soft eyes and a gentle nod of acknowledgment expressed a certain overall approval toward the tenth division’s ambitious youthful Kuwashii and were keen to continue watching her until she’d bounded off in order to prepare herself for a momentous occasion.
‘Oh, to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed once more…’ Inwardly, the cloaked woman lamented over the cacophony of time that had passed by in her life thus far and did this in the event that she’d run into one of the multitude of shining soldiers that dotted the landscape of the Soul Society. Should the Lieutenant of the tenth have had something to say to her before he hurried to his immediate task then she remained poised to respond to him but quickly lost that focus once she started to hallucinate.
The Captain of the fifth was one for reminiscence, regularly comparing the past to the present and near future but most commonly known for doting on dreams had during the night but most notably during the day. However, it was not going to do any veritable good to devolve into her usual daydreams at this junction of the current interaction; although she noticed that she was starting to feel the familiar drain of an incoming drowse even though one may have thought that she’d had enough years of sleep already.
“Captain Kurayami…”
“Mm?”
Shaking her head in order to rid her of the fleeting spell, Captain Kurayami refocused her attentions to the other Captain that she had arrived to visit with. In reality, Shizukana had absolutely no inkling as to what had gone or was going on within the Soul Society as a whole. The last bit of information that she could confidently recall was that she had been sent his invitation a rather long time ago and that she had succumb to a coma while seeking those who had caused the fifth division a devastating blow to their reputation and honor. Bringing back the traitors that had absconded to Hueco Mundo had been the woman’s top priority all the way up until the bitter bite of a voracious toxin put a stop to her crusade. This being one of the only things that could have hoped to stop the fiercely determined lady. Now that she was relatively awake, she felt disoriented and uninformed but more importantly, her presence that day was a result of her fuzzy head still very much half asleep.
This, of course, wouldn’t be something that Izanagi would have likely been able to detect as Shizukana spent most of her natural born life slumbering it away suspended in a twilight-like trance absolutely aware of what happened around her, and reacting to a juxtapose of said happenings while technically still being asleep. In fact, to anyone who was not innately close to the woman or familiar with her nuances, it’d be nearly impossible to tell the difference. Coming to the tenth division that day, Captain Kurayami had a handful of things on her mind but the most prevalent among them was finding somewhere to start investigating the relevance of this particular present that she had awoken to. What better then, to follow up with someone who had clearly desired to see her for this reason or the next? To say that Captain Izanagi’s invitation was welcome would have been quite an understatement in this regard.
" Lieutenant Kazuki, please give us a moment. I have much to discuss with Captain Kurayami. Please, make yourself comfortable, Kurayami Taicho”. Oops, pardon me, I’m Captain Jushiro Izanagi, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I was in the middle of preparing tea and now that you’re also here, it may prove to be a rather auspicious meeting. It would appear that we have quite a lot to talk about. Do you mind if we sit outside so we can observe my Lieutenant and Kuwashii chan’s sparring session? We can also catch up on a few things while we’re enjoying this wonderful brew ”.
" It certainly does have a beautiful aroma and don’t mind if I do! It was so stuffy in that ward that I believe some fresh air would do wonders for my recovery and I do enjoy watching a fine match now and again.”
Answering his kindness and grace to suggest that they spend their time conversing outside rather than inside the confines of the Captain of the tenth’s office, Shizukana set about to glide out the balcony doors and managed to nestle herself into a comfortable pair of chairs. Her’s was the choice furthest from the doorway as she believed in maintaining a sense of decorum in any and all things. This was just one of the many peculiar things about Shizukana Kurayami. Together, they became adjoined and she listened as he went about preparing their tea for its consumption and the beginning of their overdue talk.
“Honestly, I had almost forgotten about what I wanted to discuss with you. But before we got into all that, how ya feeling now that you’ve seemingly recovered from your illness?”.
Another light hearted smile danced on Shizukana’s rosebud lips upon being asked about her health. She was very appreciative of the Captain’s inquiry and it made her genuinely happy to know that he seemed to care how she was doing. For her, fake kindness did not greet her from others as she herself was a pinnacle of generosity herself, often making sure that those around her knew that she was thinking of them too and went out of her way to provide them with help and comfort and naturally, this was reciprocated more times than not.
" Aren’t you the sweetest man? Thank you so much for showing that you care, I can’t tell you just how much it means to me. Yes, I do believe that my illness has run it’s course for the time being. For now, that’s the best that I can say but I’m relieved to have sprung back to life because it means that I can be here with you now! Surely, much has happened in the time that has transpired and I’m hoping that you can clarify your share for me.--Oh?...”
Shizukana left the cup with her tea sitting on the small table between the two of them. Its steam crept into the air and vanished in a sort of loop as the gentle breeze caressed its plume and began to organically cool it’s high temperature. While she had been glancing below to the area where she presumed the nearing spar was going to commence, Kurayami took notice that besides the tenth’s Lieutenant and the lower seat he was about to test, that they were not at all alone. While she was fading in and out of her lulling, her senses could not help but take deliberate note of the arrival of two more signatures.
The first had gained her favor because she had felt it before over a myriad of times in the course of her existence as a soul reaper in the Seireitei. Kisho Date, one portion of the illustrious and fabled Date clansmen, seemed to have made his way to the tenth division as well, although for what Shizukana hadn't the slightest idea. Earlier, she had not been privy to the interaction between Jushiro and his vice captain which had pertained to the incident between Lieutenant Kazuki and Kisho’s elder and so by right she was also oblivious to any sort of discord between the two in the same breath. Her eyes began to lid the longer that she pondered just what the approaching man could have needed. Part of her wondered if she was getting in the way of a prior commitment that Captain Izanagi had with Kisho and started to entertain the nightmare that she was being intrusive. How she hated to be rude or perceived as such, it was enough to give the Captain a spark of anxiety and anxiety made her so…sleepy…With an apprehensive sigh she permitted her quiet voice to leave her again.
“It seems that we are not alone. I do apologize if I’ve come at an inopportune time or something of that sort. Trust that I didn't mean to interrupt anything you had going on and I can always visit another time if you need to address the growing amount of company. Unless, their presence is as unprecedented to you as it is to me.”
At the first sign that she was in fact, being intrusive, she prepared to make a quick leave but for now she was content waiting to see what was going to happen.
The second signature served as an alarm that jolted her out of the ever present fog she was plagued by because she had not felt it for a substantial amount of time and because of who it belonged to. A bumbling brute to the majority but a cherished comrade to her, Jinnosuke Yamazaki appeared to have also managed to find his way to the tenth division by means of overabundant energy and overbearingly audacious actions befitting him.
" None of you are Shizukana? Where she at?! Better not be hiding her from me! "
His antics were something that permeated a grin upon her face for he made her laugh, even if he went about things in a rather unorthodox and sometimes blatantly disrespectful way. The two shared an unbreakable bond in which his very life was owed to her and she treated his devotion to her with the respect that it was deserving of. In her experience, however, as silly as he was, the rowdy man could sometimes be quite the hair-pulling problem for his higher-ups and it looked like that may have been becoming the case. Understanding why he was there was also immediately clear because his boisterously loud voice carried very far.
" I don't think I know you two small fries, Names Jinno, Just got assigned to this Division, but more importantly where is my friend? "
She had half a mind to call out to Jinnosuke, but as her eyes began to droop again she decided against it. Jushiro was his Captain if he had actually been transferred to work in the tenth division and so she would leave it up to him to be the one of them to endorse him. With her plan to do nothing in full effect, Captain Kurayami closed her pink eyes and let them rest until a time would come that she would be required to open them again.
Whether or not she would truly be awake was for anyone to guess.
