Special Delivery

Aoi stepped out into the area reserved for Senkaimons, stretching and yawning a bit as she casually moved forward. It was Squad 6, but she wouldn't have to take the woman through most of it to get to where she needed to. "I suppose you get to gawk, Rin wasn't allowed to but really it doesn't matter at the moment. Look around~ We got a bit of a walk, there's no cars or stuff here."

Hopefully Muika wouldn't feel too scared, Aoi trying to be as utterly nonchalant as possible to put her at ease. If Aoi was relaxed and treating it like a perfectly normal trip, Muika might take the cue and feel better.

This...was definitely a lot different, much more than Muika expected.

Her eyes roamed the area some, once the relief of nothing having happened on the way here had passed. She...definitely didn't fit the image here it seemed, considering she was dressed modernly. She didn't have any traditional clothes though so it couldn't have been helped.

She didn't stand by to look around too much, not wanting attention on her. When Aoi mentioned it being a walk, she gave a nod; that was fine, walking was no problem. "'Kay."

Muika would stand out a bit but not too much. It was common knowledge the new Captain came from Sixth so someone dressed in modern clothes was probably from there as well. Leading her through the rather oddly decorated for Muika probably place, Aoi pointed out landmarks they came across.

Leading her towards the more housing oriented and less work oriented areas, as they passed Divisions, Aoi also pointed those out for Muika. Any questions the woman had, the shinigami would be able to answer. Realizing an important thing she had left out, Aoi laughed and waved her hand. "Oh! I forgot to tell you. The woman who'll take your measurements, she's reaaally reaaaally shy. Like shyer than you. I figured Mia would be safer than some random person and she knows exactly what to do."

Muika followed Aoi through the area, occasionally allowing her eyes to glance over at things that stood out. She only knew about this place from what little she knew from Aoi and from what she learned from her work, but it was different from just hearing about it than actually seeing it.

She gave a small nod when Aoi mentioned the woman that would be doing the measurements; shyer than her even? She supposed that would be easier...maybe, if they were more outgoing she didn't know how she would handle much random conversation...

Not long after that proclamation, Aoi led Muika to a hedged in area. There were overgrown trees over top of it and leading her into the darker shadows through the walkway, the shinigami didn't once seem disturbed by the jungle. Moving past the evil haunted lands, they came to a clearing with a house. It was smallish but two stories and rather modern in design compared to some others. It only looked about a hundred years old or so at least and more western.

Knocking once, Aoi's second knock was interrupted by the door opening and a pair of violet eyes with jet black hair peeked sideways from behind it. In a soft voice, friendly but very shy she stuttered as she opened the door fully for them to come in."C-Come in... M-Masa's sleeping upstairs so...p-please be a bit quiet...A-Aoi..."

Giving a sheepish smile Aoi, waved Muika to follow her in. "Only a warning for me? Aww. I'm sad."

The area seemed to vastly change the farther they went, from the bright and traditional settings to a darker area thanks to being covered by shrubbery and such. It seemed like an old area, and eventually they arrived at a house that looked just as old. It was well hidden at least...

Muika was quiet as Aoi knocked, her hands grasping on to the ends of her clothing as the door opened.

When Aoi waved for her to follow, she did so, her usual instincts to silence herself when it came to being around new people having already worked its way to her system.

Aoi was quiet, getting a small glare from Mia while Muika got a really shy smile from the dark haired woman. Her cloak was nowhere to be found, instead she was wearing just a simple white dress that went to her knees and socks or tights that went up under it. Wringing her hands on the dress, she looked down and away from the pair after she shut the door behind them.

"W-Would you like t-tea? I-I have some...c-cake or...c-c-cookies...t-to share..." Mia stuttered her words hard, curling up a bit on herself. Oh! She had never introduced herself. Bowing to Muika without looking, Mia shook very slightly as her face reddened. "I-I am L-Lieutenant M-Mia N-Nezo... N-Nice to meet...you..."

Aoi heard cookies or cake and was immediately sparkling. "Yes to cookies and cake for me~"

"Mm." Muika gave a small nod at Mia's greeting, and towards the offer of the cakes and tea...it was probably good to accept the gesture...right? Right, she needed to introduce herself too. "M...Muika Okura..."

Since they both wanted some, Mia moved towards the kitchen while Aoi followed along like a duckling. She glanced back at Muika and added in a soft voice. "Mia and Masabutt make the best sweets~"

Mia's eye twitched at the nickname but she said nothing, instead choosing to just ignore it. It had been a compliment...

Moving to the counter, she had hot water already made in a large pitcher and pulled down four mugs and set them on a tray already set out that had a few small cakes and cookies. Creamer and sugar were already on it. Grabbing some tea bags for simplicities sake, she turned to give a wobbly smile at Muika. "H-Here you two. This way then..."

Aoi stared at the cookies and nodded, following them as if being pulled on an invisible leash. She'd never been inside Mia's house before but the cookies were too much of a pull for her to look around.

Out of the kitchen they went by another door, leading to a room filled with books, while one bookcase on hinges stood open. It led to the stairs, where Mia stopped for a moment. "Masaru is sleeping in the library on the couch. H-He should be out for a while but please don't go bother him Aoi... He's been sick and needs rest..."

Her voice was a bit stronger as she spoke about the person upstairs though it returned to its faded tone after a bit again. She just smiled at Muika, trying to show the woman it was okay and she was just worried about Aoi being bothersome.

Aoi just nodded. Cookies~

Muika followed wherever Aoi and Mia went, trailing along carefully behind them as they were taken into different rooms once Mia had the sweets.

This house certainly had it's surprises, there was a hidden staircase behind the bookshelf...it was a two floored home, though earlier she did remember not noticing any stairs, though...she'd hardly even looked.

It seemed Aoi was being warned for a lot of things, but...from the looks of things Aoi didn't seem to mind, she just kept her eye on the cookies.

With Aoi's agreement, Mia let out a sigh of relief and gave her a small smile before blushing and trying to give the same to Muika. The woman was really shy, so Mia was trying to make her feel at ease as possible but... Well she knew the feeling too well, it may or may not help.

Feeling sympathy she led them both up the stairs into her large sewing and hobbies room. The door to the library was open, a man laying on a cough that was covered in a dark blue cloak visible as she moved towards the huge almost eating table that held her sewing machine and a few chairs. She set the food on the table, the room and table cleaned for company before she gave a nod. "P-Please help yourselves... I-I'll be right back."

Rushing into the library, she went to check on Masaru for the moment.

Meanwhile as soon as Aoi had the okay, she grabbed a plate with a cake on it and grinned, talking in a slightly quieter voice than usual. "I get on her nerves sometimes. Mmm get some cake! And don't feel so scared."

Plopping herself on a seat, she took a bite before speaking once it was swallowed. "It'll take a bit to get the measurements, you need a ton of them to make sure it fits right. I'll probably ask her to do the final fittings too. She a nice person and quiet, so it shouldn't be as scary for you right?"

Muika kept a grip on sleeves, not meaning to really seem...scared or anything, but she supposed it was coming off that way...

She followed them upstairs, noting the large room they entered with all of the sewing supplies. At Mia's words, Muika gave a small nod as the woman left the room to seemingly go check on the person in the library.

"Mm, right..." She gave another small nod, getting cake like Aoi had suggested. "N...Not scared." She added after a short moment.

"Scared was a bad word but...I guess nervous. It probably just doesn't help me saying it though..." Aoi realized and shrugged. Cake was good!

Mia came back after a few moments, shutting the door to that room softly and smiling just a bit. "F-Finally...resting enough..."

Seeing Muika and Aoi had gotten cake, her smile grew a bit and a happy light entered her eyes. She liked to feed others so this was something she was pleased with. Moving to the table, she made herself a glass of tea and motioned to the other two. She'd make it for them.

Aoi's mouth was full so she just gave a nod and a happy sound. Swallowing her bite after, she grinned. "Well you two are both shy so I'll introduce you more! Mia is my old Captain's girlfriend. He's the one napping in the library. She likes to make things and sew... And Muika is the human woman I told you about Mia! She's a fullbringer who is really nice but shy, though really strong too and a good fighter. She lives with Iyuki, another fullbringer and they are in love. He wanted her to have a special bodysuit like mine so she agreed."

Mia turned red, nodding and hiding in her dark hair as she brought some up to her lips and face for a moment as her other hand made tea. How cute...

"Mm..."

Muika ate some of the cake, glancing up when she heard Mia come back and shut the door behind her before approaching them.

It was then Aoi began introductions, or well, more than just names. Her old captain's girlfriend, and her old captain was the man asleep in the library...

A small squeak escaped her as Aoi began introducing her to Mia, a red tint coming to her face; that...why'd she have to describe it like that!? It...

"I-It's t-to keep me safe..." She managed to get out, still embarrassed by the introduction Aoi had given about her...

Mia finished making the cups of tea, setting out the spoons and sugar and cream for them to take if they wanted. She put just a bit of honey in hers and a lot of milk and smiled softly while Aoi went for the sugar.

"Yep! I told Mia about it already. Don't worry, she's not the type to think it was a kinky thing." Aoi just stated that as she finished making her tea, grinning. Mia choked on her tea and blushed. "Y-Yeah... p-please don't worry. I-If it'll help keep you s-safe I bet... y-your love will be happy."

She shot Aoi a small glare for that but Aoi just grinned more and took a cookie. The cake was all gone from this plate~

Continuing, Mia explained a bit of what she would have to do with a deeply red face. "Y-You'll have to t-take off your outer clothes... For these measurements I-I need to get...close to your skin...and more than the usual amount... I-I won't be making it, but I'll be...adjusting for you. Th-The material is something I am familiar with. D-Don't worry about Masaru waking up either. Ch-Children's nyquil is strong enough to...make him sleep... Long enough... I-I can't trust him to rest...unless...I'm there watching...he'll overwork himself."

She explained also why Masaru was even here despite knowing she'd have to have the woman strip, hoping to set the woman's nerves at ease. If she was her she would have been nervous... so...

Aoi nodded, agreeing with Mia on the Masaru assessment but not adding anything else. Mia was the master sewer, she had no idea what to do really other than simple things.

At Aoi's words another small squeak was given, but overall she quieted afterwards.

"M-Mm..." Muika nodded again, glad that things had been explained already and there hadn't been some...misunderstanding in that short moment...

She listened to Mia and what would need to be done, giving another small nod when she was told there wouldn't be any worries about Masaru waking up. Children's though...?

She shook the thought, thinking better not to question it.

"K...Kay." She knew ahead of time that for measurements she couldn't exactly stay as heavily clothed as she was, even if she was nervous about it...

"H-Here, for now...just... relax a bit... I-It'll make it easier." Mia spoke quietly, wondering if she should talk more... It was hard to just say things! but...if she got to know the woman a bit more...

Aoi was perceptive when she wanted to be. If she stayed here those two would rely on her to talk to each other. Her eyes narrowed, grabbing a handful of cookies and shoving them into her mouth. Washing them down with the tea, she thought for a moment. Pretending a yawn, she stretched and stood up. "You two should bond. I'm gonna go take a nap while you do this~ Not like I can help. There's room on the couch for me to snuggle..."

Moving to Muika, she petted her head lightly before waving her fingers.

Mia just stared before shaking her head and trying to hold in a laugh. She was still red faced and nervous but it was obvious what Aoi was doing. She nodded after a moment. "O-Okay..."

"M-Mm..."

She wished she could talk more, maybe make this...less quiet or awkward...but...how? She couldn't bring herself to do so, even though she wished she could.

As she was thinking this she felt her head being petted, which pulled her from her thoughts, realizing what Aoi had just said. She was going to...go nap? She gave a small nod in response, "K-Kay..."

Aoi grabbed a few more cookies, taking them with her as she moved into the library. There were other places to sleep but Masaru would be out cold and he was a warm comfy body. Closing the door behind her, she set the cookies on the table nearby before crawling under the cloak and snuggling up to the dead to the world man.

Mia meanwhile just sat there, awkwardly staring into her tea. She...didn't know what to do or say. What did you talk about with someone else? Without Aoi here to talk for her, she felt too quiet and shy. At least she could get frustrated with the little red head and speak her mind.

"...S-So...do you...have a job? I-I'm a librarian..." Mia felt weird, but she pushed herself to say SOMETHING! Jobs were nice. Easy topics. Nothing weird about it!

"Um...I work at a...a bookstore." Muika replied, answering Mia's question after they'd both sat there for awhile with the tea and cakes.

A librarian...they kind of had similar jobs then...

"B-Bookstores as nice." Mia smiled, their jobs were really similar then! Though Mia ran the entire library section really... Or at least the administrative parts such as books and organization and schedules and such... Hideki did the more social parts as well as the things only the Captain could do.

But...now what did they talk about? Their names both started with M... Uh... Masaru and hers? But...thats personal... really personal... Mia pulled her black hair up across her mouth and looked away.

"M-Mm..." Muika gave a small nod in response; the bookstore part was alright, it was the spiritual awareness shop portion that could be troublesome...but...helping with hollow control paid more, so it was helpful...

Mia sipped her tea and looked to the side. Wait books! "U-Uh...do you read a lot?"

Maybe she did and they could...talk about books? Books were nice... Maybe she played games? She was a human, a youngish one so... It was possible. "I-I'm trying to get Papa to read some things...myself..."

"M-Mm...Sometimes." She mostly read while she was working; the bookstore portion wasn't necessarily that busy, so she often had time to herself, or she read sometimes when she was waiting on Iyuki to get home from his job. "I...mostly during work or waiting f-for...Iyuki to get home..."

She voiced her thoughts, pushing herself to give more than just two word responses. Talk...she needed to...talk some more than that...

"O-Oh! That sounds really nice... What...kinds of things? What does I-Iyuki do then? Something...s-similar?" Mia found she had openings to ask questions now that the woman was speaking a bit more. She...could ask things then! It...felt easier at least...