An Unexpected Return [nsfw]

Out of the Senkaimon and into the main area where Division Six members in human world appeared from. Aoi stepped out and stretched, feeling at home once again as she smiled. Those who didn't know her very well in the Squad and even those who did would hopefully think, if they saw Rin, that she had just taken another shinigami out to the human world.

A large open courtyard almost, flat with other portals and people entering and exiting them in many different clothing styles. Most had uniforms though there were enough not uniformed that it made no different. The ground under them was paved in stones, leading up to a large building right ahead of them. It was an older style, not seen in over a century at least in the human world. People entered and exited at will, though not all went into the senkaimon area. Instead there were roads and paths leading out from this place.

As long as in the Seireitei she gave him no extra special attention... Which would be hard for her to resist but... He'd probably be so cute and everything! "This way, into that building. We should head to Captain's Office first and see if he's in, though I doubt it. He probably hasn't recovered yet..."

With much difficulty, Rin did as promised and kept his curiosity of his new surroundings at bay. His eyes wanted nothing more than to glance around and take in everything but that would rile suspicion as Aoi had said.

He kept himself composed, though from what he could see he was quite surprised; this style of well...everything were things to be seen in history books, it was rare to come across buildings and places that still kept to the old like all of this.

Rin nodded at Aoi's words, "Alright."

Even if she wasn't sure if her superior was there or not, it would be wise to check...

Aoi gave Rin a small smile and led him past the people moving to and fro, giving a wave and a smile to those who knew her. No one seemed to look at Rin oddly though a few shot him curious glances, but Aoi was Aoi. She had probably found a new victim to terrorize since Captain Masaru had come back all calm.

Moving through the building, inside were mostly people of all ages and looks dressed like shinigami who saluted Aoi as she walked past. She nodded to them too with a large grin, every once in a while glancing back at Rin to make sure he was still following and okay.

The woman knew more than anything that he probably wanted to stare at things and be curious but he'd have to save it. In the Rukon he could look curious all he wanted... She'd make sure nothing ever hurt him. "Almost there Rin. Sorry for the long walk, but we'll be walking even more in a bit. I'm pretty sure this will just a quick glance inside..."

Moving up to a door, Aoi knocked politely before sticking her head inside and... being utterly shocked. She slammed the door closed, looked at Rin as if he knew the answer, before opening it once more and stepping in. Her smile was a chesire cat grin as she glanced over the two there. "Hello Captain and Captain's stalker."

Moving ahead so Rin could follow, she was smiling like the cat that ate the canary. A rather surprised Mia was staring at her, her hood down and holding out some paperwork for Masa to take.

"It's alright, I don't mind walking." He answered as they approached a door that belonged to the main office where Aoi's captain worked. He watched as she moved to peek inside, his eyes widening a fraction when she suddenly slammed it shut and looked at him.

He raised a brow...more or less confused by Aoi's actions until she turned and opened the door again; a large grin on her face as they faced the two people inside.

Masaru glanced up when the door opened, having been buried in work he needed to catch up on. Thankfully, with Mia's help, it wasn't as difficult had it only been himself. At Aoi's greeting though, Masaru's greeting stopped as he looked at her...He hadn't...although he should have, expected to be seeing Aoi...quite yet and with recent...developments he was lost for words.

"Ah, A-Aoi; you seem...happy?" He greeted, pushing himself to say something as he took the papers Mia offered him, "and she's not a stalker..."

Aoi's smile just got larger and larger. She looked at the confused Rin, shooting him a small 'sorry' and hand wave. She moved closer to the desk, deciding to wait for the moment before pouncing on this... rather cute scene. "Masa? This is Rin Aoyama my...special person. Rin, this is Captain Masaru Shirakawa and Lieutenant Mia Nezo. Mia is apparently not Masa's stalker so I suppose girlfriend would be the better term?"

Never one to not notice small details, Aoi realized Mia with her hood down... helping Masa... was a bit suspect. Well to Aoi anyways. Still, she took Rin's hand and gave him a reassuring hand squeeze and in a low tone muttered. 'I'll explain in a bit...'

"N-Nice...to meet..." Mia was already flustered, her face red at the term the evil little red head had used for her... boyfriend. She gave Rin a small bow at her introduction, shooting him a small smile before freezing at the next set of words. The color drained from her face and she covered her mouth, glancing to Masa. Nonononononono! Why did she have to be here for this...her urge to poof was strong, especially since she had her hood down.

"I-I see, it's nice to meet you." Masaru said, turning to Rin and giving him a friendly smile, though it with Aoi's...now correct assumption he was having difficulty trying not to either freeze or cover his face. He gave a small glance over to Mia, catching her own glance before quickly putting his attention back on Aoi and Rin; trying to beat away and red that threatened to tint his face.

Rin gave a short glance down at Aoi as she squeezed his hand and muttered that she would explain later about...whatever was happening here before he, while noticing the two's...nervousness(?) that had seemed to become more noticeable with Aoi's statement, gave them both a kind smile in return and a small bow of introduction as well.

"Yes, I'm glad to meet the both of you; it's a pleasure." Rin stated, still smiling.

...Masa had not denied it. Aoi's mouth opened in an O of surprise and she glanced between the two who were decidedly more flustered than before and...not denying it. Not vehemently as they had been ever since she started, denying it. In fact they just glanced at each other...

Clapping her hands together, she momentarily forgot all about the whole quick visit to the Captain's office. She pointed after clapping, looking at the pair with glee. "Awwwwwwwwww you two! You totally are dating! Thats why Masa came back! You two totally spent the past three days aloooone together didn't you! Aaaah Rin Rin, its like watching a unicorn get laid! The notorious bachelor Masaru Shirakawa stolen by the mysterious Cake Ghost! I didn't know Captain had it in him! Ahahahahaahah!"

Mia meanwhile had turned beat red, looking like she was about to pop into a bajillion pieces as Aoi seemed to guess... from their actions!? HOW?! Was she PSYCHIC!? Rin was smiling nicely but that evil one next to him was so evil and cruel! Dropping to the floor she hid behind Masa's desk, curled up against his legs and burying her face in his lap. Masa save me...

Like Mia, Masaru's face had turned beat red at Aoi's words.

"Th-That- That's not what happened!" He quickly denied. Mia had come over while he'd been holed up in his room to snap him out of it and then they'd realized their misunderstandings and...and then one thing led to another and that was it!

In response to Mia's reaction that had led to her hiding, while still thoroughly embarrassed by Aoi's assumption Masaru did still managed to bring his hand down to gently pet Mia's head in attempt to try to relieve her a little since he knew it helped calm her sometimes...in this instance however he wasn't sure if just head pats would be enough at all...

Even Rin had turned slightly red at Aoi's statement along with Masaru and Mia, who had ended up hiding.

"Ooooh you keep not denying the dating part. So what happened Masa?" Aoi's tone was teasing as she giggled, noticing Mia's dive behind the desk with one eyebrow raised. Masa's hand went down... this was all just confirming her utterly already confirmed suspicions. "So I was right. Masa liked Mia and was in denial... and Mia was following him around because she liked him."

Aoi spun around, feeling like cupid as she laughed, grabbing Rin's hands and holding them as she looked into his eyes. "You see shiro-usa, for a while now Mia's been hanging around. I thouuught she was stalking Masa, she'd leave nice notes and things like cake for him. She also goes to his house and plays with his little sister... And he gets all really cute when I would call her his stalker. When I asked him to let you come, that was when I finally asked him about things and...he kind of broke. Especially when Mia came by! I figured something had happened between them... Cause he took a few sick days! When... Setsuna died... he wouldn't even take a few HOURS off. But three days because of Mia? Hehehehe."

Mia listened and buried her face more in Masa's lap, even as his petting soothed her. She couldn't say a damned word, her shyness and embarrassment too much for her to deal with. Why this woman!? WHY HER!?

"I...She...I...She just came by to snap me out of my attitude, we cleared up the m-misunderstanding and....th-then..." Then relationships....dating...and...a lot of being embarrassed and flustered...and...yeah...

"A-And what happened...everything that happened when...what happened to Set...Setsuna, that's different...things were hectic, I needed...to be here and be...be available...things were calmer and much more...more manageable when...when I..I took off..." He added, glancing off to the side for a moment before his eyes returned to Aoi and Rin.

Rin stood and listened, though overall he didn't really know what he could say...this was...certainly Aoi being...Aoi and to that he gave a small, sheepish smile along with a matching chuckle.

Her normally calm, able to speak Captain was stuttering like Rin again. Only worse than most times Rin did. Aoi let go of Rin, turning to glance her captain with fake solemnity. "Mm. And then? You two did something like start dating. I see. I see. Did you at least kiss her?"

She wouldn't respond to his rather broken stuttered reply about Setsuna and things calming down. All she did was smile innocently and blink. Rin's small smile and chuckle made Aoi extremely happy and she reached up to caress his cheek. Her eyes were as soft as her voice. "Sorry shiro-usa. I've been excited over this a bit too much and ignoring you..."

Mia meanwhile made a small noise at the kissing part, wanting to reply to Aoi with a strong and angry 'yes!' but unable to move at all. However she did mutter something Masa would be able to hear only when she heard Aoi's voice change and apologize to the man. "...she should apologize to us..."

"Y....Y-yes...." Masaru replied with much difficulty, becoming more embarrassed by the second. Why was this happening!? He'd returned to work for...for this.

Rin gave a small shake of his head at Aoi's apology, his hand going to momentarily rest on hers that had moved up to his cheek before giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Ah, it's fine. Really, you don't need to apologize to me for that, Aoi."

Masaru gave a nod in response to Mia while Aoi was turned to Rin...Really...He felt about seventy percent ready to just join Mia in hiding with all of this...He couldn't do that though, he could endure this!

"I'm glad you stopped by..even if you weren't sure I'd be in." Masaru said, after clearing his throat in attempt to push himself to say something. "It's nice to finally meet the man Aoi so dearly loves."

Aoi heard Masa's reply, but Rin held her entire attention for the moment. It was good they had kissed, it made Aoi happy to hear that. Maybe Masa would be less shy? Mia seemed so already... Though she was still hiding behind the desk. Masa and her were obviously comfortable together moreso now.

"Okay... Thank you." Aoi was leaning up to give Rin a kiss, his words making her forget about Mia and Masa for a moment before his words hit her. She went to turn and tell him how glad she was he had been here! Especially because of revelations like this one when... That word. The..dreaded word.

Instantly Aoi's face turned red and she stuttered, her face staring at Rin's chest. "Y-Y-Yes. I-Its g-good you two met! W-We should go now Rin! T-Things to do!"


Mia was surprised at the turn of events, her head popping off of Masa's lap as her eyes glanced over the desk. Aoi was...flustered by something. Something Masa had said. Mia confused eyes turned to Masa. "...Is she?"

As even Rin froze at Masaru's words, turning a bright red at the mention of the...the word, the captain mentally muttered an apology...but he'd needed to say it, at least to temporarily save himself and Mia from any further embarrassment.

"I see, yes; you did mention there was plenty you wanted to show him." Masaru replied, "Please, don't let us hold you up."

Masaru glanced over to Mia as she popped her head up from behind the desk, glancing at Aoi after hearing the girl begin to stutter. He gave a small nod to Mia, a small smile on his face at the small victory he'd obtained.

"Okay! Thank you Captain." Aoi gave a small smile, her face still the color of tomatoes as she pulled Rin along behind her out of the room. "Goodbye Masa and Mia. See you later!"

She slammed the door shut behind her, trying to calm her face as she slapped it lightly once Rin was let go of. "S-Sorry about that...he...oh no..."


Mia was a bit...amused as Aoi left quickly, waving to Rin goodbye. It seems Aoi had a weakness? Glancing at Masa, her face had a slight smile on it. "Thank you Masa, for keeping me safe. We should get back to work... you've got a lot to catch up on."

Rin gave a small breath after Aoi had pulled him from the room and shut the door behind them. That word...

"I-It's..It's fine." Rin stuttered, his own face burning as brightly as Aoi's was.


Masaru gave Mia a small smile once Aoi and Rin had left the office, "It wasn't a problem, Mia. I feel a bit bad for having to embarrass Aoi's partner but...that was the only way I figured she'd put a hold on her teasing."

He gave a nod at her suggestion though and glanced down at the papers he'd been working on before Aoi had arrived. "You're right though, we should. There is still a lot for me to catch up on."

Aoi felt slightly better, but she was still a bit flustered as she reached for Rin...only to pull back. Someone could see out here! Leaning forward, her voice was low as she spoke. "Hmph! This...is frustrating. I want to touch you... We should head out though my precious Rin."

Even if it made her entirely embarrassed to say it, she couldn't help it. She turned to move down the hall but... didn't step away yet.

-------

Nodding, Mia picked up some of the finished paperwork, moving it aside and sorting through things needing his immediate attention. She was smiling softly still, more relaxed since they could get this done now.

Rin couldn't help but give a small chuckle, "I understand how you feel, we should head out soon...like you said so we don't have to worry too much about being seen."

It was difficult walking around and not holding her hand or being closer to her; he'd been walking at least a step or two apart to help with not raising suspicion...

Aoi nodded firmly, giving a quick glance around before sneakily stealing a kiss from Rin. As she fell back to her feet she smiled softly before turning and heading towards an exit. She would lead him out of the seireitei and then into the Rukon.

Still they had a bit of seireitei to get through to get out there... Once they headed out of squad Six however, Aoi moved a bit closer to Rin though not as close as she'd like. Out here they'd see fewer people she knew, the architecture changing only slightly by who liked what designs. Shinigami dressed and in plainclothes just wandered around. Even some Rukon residents could potentially be seen, though Aoi figured that out by sensing. Giving him a smile, she teased a bit. "You can look around now Rin, just don't gape too much. For all they know you are a potential new student looking around, or a Rukon resident who is in a relationship with a shinigami."

With that she continued to lead him along, walking quite a long ways before they reached even one of the exits out of the seireitei. Finally, they would enter the much less technological and a bit less fancy Rukon...

His eyes did glance off to the sides as they walked once she'd said it was okay, but Rin kept his head facing forward as he continued to follow Aoi. It became obvious in quality difference when the Rukon was in sight, but he'd expected it considering what he did know of this place.

It was amazing though, seeing all these old styles of buildings, and style of dress still in use and all the different people walking about...it was an entirely different world from his own, the afterlife...for him, who was still a living human to see it...well, it was nothing short of amazing.

He gave a glance down, to Aoi's hand as they entered one of the Rukon districts but refrained from moving to grasp it like he wanted...it'd be a safer choice to wait for that, even if she had said someone might just believe he was a resident dating a shinigami...so an action such as that would be seen as fine but...he was remaining cautious as ever, probably more than he needed to at this point...

Aoi led them a bit away from the area where there were lots of people, though the streets were still really clean and people seemed happy and unbothered by things. Most paid the pair no mind, not caring what a couple out like this was doing. She glanced back a few times to make sure Rin was okay, though he seemed to be trying too hard not to look around. Wanting to sigh but knowing it would just make him ask her silly questions, she instead smiled and stopped for a brief second so he could catch up.

Grasping his hand in hers, she tugged him into an alleyway. It ended in a dead end but was still pretty bright... However she wasn't taking him inside it for naughty things, instead she held out her arms and quickly picked Rin up. "I'm going to have to flashstep us to the district we need to go. It'd take far too long for us to get there by foot or carriage. Mm, if you keep your eyes open and you can see a lot of sights as we go!"

Without waiting for his reply, Aoi and Rin quickly reappeared on the roof of the building the alleyway had been made by. Then with another step and scratching sound she was off across the many rooftops extending impossibly far along.

Rin shot Aoi a questioning glance as she took his hand and pulled him into an alleyway, leading them both towards the dead end before stopping. He was confused for a moment but not for long as she lifted him up, earning a slightly tinted face from him out of slight embarrassment before she explained what she needed to do.

Right, it would be much quicker...He really should learn that method they'd discovered...

"R-Righ-wha-!!" His grip on her, out of reflex secured as she took off; not waiting on him to answer. He attempted to keep his eyes open, the speed at which they were going making him want to shut them due to the wind whipping past them. He did see some of the districts though as she bounded from roof to roof, leading them to wherever it was she planned on them going.

Ahead of them was a bad slum, Aoi stopping on top of one of the few large buildings before the slum, dropping down into a dark alleyway. The difference between even the alleys was much, this one being dark, dank and smelling of things. There were dark splotches on the wall, some that looked like old blood splatters. They were rather far out in the districts, at least 60 or so and Aoi was on guard as Rin was set down carefully. Puddles that were dark lay nearby and a woman laying on the ground with a jug of something that smelled almost like ethanol it was so strong, she just glanced at them before obviously looking away.

"Those who don't mind their own business end up dead out here, or attacked. You can look around more now Rin, but stay close." Reaching into her kimono, Aoi pulled out her rod weapon and extended it and one blade. The woman in the alleyway moved away more, not looking their way.

Looking up at him with a sad smile, she reached for Rin's hand and twined her fingers in his. "You'll see some sights...that will be disturbing. Don't do anything stupid okay? I'm sorry to taint your pure heart this way, but we need to go into those slums, deeply."

Their new location was...rather unsettling, he remember Aoi mentioning the farther out the lower their quality became but...he hadn't imagined this bad. The smell in the alleyway weren't the most pleasant but he resist the urge to cover the lower half of his face to dull the smell and simply tried to ignore it.

As Aoi pulled out her weapon he noticed the woman that'd been lying a short distance ahead shuffle away and ignore them. It was...unnerving and like Aoi, Rin was instinctively on guard himself. His attention was pulled from his surroundings to Aoi as he felt her grasp his hand, which he gave what he hoped was a comforting squeeze. "It's alright, you warned me of this. I promise I won't act foolishly and...don't worry about...tainting me, I'm alright. I swear."

That squeeze made her feel much better, Rin's words even more so. Aoi wouldn't coddle him, he was her partner and love. If he couldn't handle this simple stuff, he wouldn't be able to handle the rest of what she needed to show and tell him. Nodding with a soft smile, the last one for a while she thought, Aoi led Rin out of the alleyway. The street wasn't packed but neither was it empty. People moved around, hooded and cloaked. Most without cloaks or hoods looked ragged like beggars or were like Rin and Aoi.

They obviously didn't fit in and were ignored, or at least were pretended to not exist like those few others. Whatever they were out here for, no one wanted to know or bother. The few dirty children running around steered clear of even the easy target in Rin, eyeing Aoi's weapon and clothing first before blanching and running at the cold gaze she directed at them.

A few thieves glanced at the hand she was holding, before moving along. Even one handed she didn't look like someone to be messed with right now.

Inside her head was a mantra being repeated, 'I am Aoi, I am happy and I have Rin.'. These places were hard on her, her hand shaking slightly as she pulled Rin along and towards a small road off of this one.

This time the people on it watched them warily, the buildings shifting from the few shops to mostly run down shacks that people seemed to live in. A few took one look at Rin and his clothing, Aoi and her weapon, and went inside after pulling the children inside. A few of the older children froze before running off, white faced and terrified as they tried to find hiding spots.

Aoi let go of Rin's hand and leaned over to whisper, "They think you are a brothel owner or slaver looking for young ones to bring in. Just a bit farther you'll have to put up with this, I promise..."