These Will Help!

"Hmm. It's odd because where I come from, they developed deep spaceflight... but I wasn't lying when I said I don't remember much of my childhood. Other than vague events, I don't remember my home, so..." he shrugged. "I guess it's all new to me. I've only been here a few months." He wasn't sure if he'd said that before or not.

"I see. That sounds so charming. It is a good sounding life, Ikue Isari." He said with a rather genuine smile. "It is good you keep in touch with your family."

Ikue listened as Yui described some of the vague memories he had of his own childhood; spaceflight... He didn't remember his home, or childhood really... That was a bit sad, but he seemed okay? Not remembering though...

She gave a small nod at his comment towards her life; "Mhmm, I miss them but I'm on my own path! I'm getting to learn all sorts of new things thanks to moving here! I keep in touch so it's not too bad, and my apartment is roomy enough to remind me of home!"

He grinned. "That's... so brave of you. You're really admirable and that's coming from someone who's very old.." He said, before tipping his head to the side and looking up curiously. "Except I don't know exactly how age works for spirit beings. I've been examining it and it seems like, while knowledge keeps increasing, emotional maturity never seems to improve. It worries me. I have enough data to estimate I've been alive, by some definition of the word or another, for...... at least a FEW billion years, now... Granted, part of that's my unique physiology, but... It concerns me that I might be eternally stuck as a 20 year old, emotionally..." He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, staring at the ground as if trying to work out some problem.

A few...billion!?

Wow, Ikue couldn't help but be a bit surprised and awed at that. She couldn't imagine being alive for that long, it'd...it'd be good if she could live a lot longer than a human would...but...that long!?

So...spirit beings aged really...really slowly...

"Being alive that long...that's amazing; aha...I haven't really done anything special, lots of people do exactly what I'm doing! Being able to live so long though... I can hardly imagine it, mm..."

He was concerned though, about himself being stuck at such an age emotionally; "I-It's not all bad, being young is fun! Twenty is the perfect bridge between being young and being an adult! Getting old is...a bit scary when I think about it...aha..."

"Y-yes. Well." He made a rather obvious throat clearing. He wasn't sure why you were supposed to do that, but it was a thing people did when they felt awkward? It was some form of sign language, maybe. He needed to continue investigating human anatomy at some point to create more complex simulations for himself. He felt like he was just missing too many things.

"I'm sort of... a special case... Whereas most hollows would simply be freely formed into some monstrous shape... When I became a hollow, I sort of... bonded to my suit... the one I showed you a second ago... So the suit is the only body I have..... and my hollow regeneration applies to it... and, well... other than physical wear and tear, inanimate objects don't AGE so... I think I might be well... immortal?" Wow, it sounded more ridiculous than he'd thought.

To anyone else, being alive for billions of years automatically qualified someone as immortal. To Testament who now called that "Chapter 2 of my life." it... the concept that he would be alive for many many many times that.... just...

He shuddered. "W...What the hell was that?" He asked, looking around. "Was there a wind in here or something?"

He might be...immortal? The way he described it...made some sense to Ikue, inanimate objects didn't really age so... he might actually be immortal; most people would consider someone that was billions of years old to be immortal anyway...

"Hm?" He'd just...shuddered? Had he been thinking of something? "There isn't any wind at all...Maybe...you were thinking something that was unsettling to you? That's...what it means when people shudder...most of the time when there's no wind."

That might be it...

"Hm... Unsettling... I suppose that's a close enough word... It was just... something I realized is all that was surprising." He shook his head. He didn't want to dwell on that though, nor make her dwell on it. There was something she mentioned a moment ago he wanted to bring up.

"Hey, you said you think getting old is scary, right? Well, you know you're spiritually aware. You don't have to get old. There's any manor of spiritual beings you could become. Obviously my personal recommendation is hollow." He offered helpfully. "I imagine some people prefer their humanity, but as you said, age can be scary."

It seemed...Yui was fine with dropping his moment of feeling unsettled for now, he had been thinking about something and had been surprised? Ikue could only wonder what, but... she was no mind reader.

B-Become a hollow!?

"I-I don't wanna hurt people, not at all!" That would be...be even scarier she felt! If she had to hurt others to live... She didn't wanna hurt someone! A-Age was...really scary, but...she didn't want to hurt or even...even worse, kill people to live...

Hm? Hurt or kill? Just from being a hollow. Well that was rude. It wasn't like hollows were like that always. Some became arrancar or others lived in Hueco Mundo or Salvaje. He'd said as much earlier. Then again he'd said a LOT earlier... that was unfair.

"Well it's not like all hollows hurt people. I'm a hollow and I don't. In fact, Salvaje, the place I come from, nourishes hollows without hurting anybody? There's some hollows there who still hurt people but it's because they're bad people, not because they're hollows." He felt like she was being, y'know... a little racist.

"I-I'm sorry...I-It's just..." Well, considering how hollows lived she knew some...went after live people, and that...she didn't want to do that... W-What if something happened to her and she ended up doing that!?

There was...just a lot of little things to worry about...

N...Not all hollows were bad, Yui proved that... S-She'd met a hollow...and even a bount so far and they were both really, really nice to her! It-It was just... "S-S...Sorry... I don't mean..."

He shook his head, placing a reassuring hand on her knee. "Really, it's fine. It's a common belief and until recently it had more truth to it then I think it does now? Salvaje sort of only recently came into existence and while Hueco Mundo allows hollows to survive, it doesn't let them grow without consuming others. Salvaje lets hollows grow without resorting to cannibalism and most places there are very peaceful and nice."

He smiled. "If you were scared of becoming a hollow because you were afraid it might change who you are, I doubt it would. You're a very strong person, Ikue. I can sense that much. "

Ikue brought her hands to her mouth to stop a squeak from coming up as she was interrupted from her various apologies about...well the things she'd said, as Yui's hand came to place reassuringly on her knee.

"Mm...I-It's just..." She didn't know how to explain it, she didn't...want to change who she was; Yui was saying it likely wouldn't because he found her to be strong, but... She wasn't able to put that much confidence in herself in those regards. A-Age was scary, but...

Testament took his hand back, still unaware the contact had made her squeak like that. It was just something she sort of did, the squeaking. He respected that it was normal for her. He would mind it but not focus too much on it.

"Hmm. I understand the concept of changing your physical self is scary. I am not trying to challenge your convictions on the matter. Just illuminating possibilities. You are an interesting person I have made friends with today, Ikue. It would upset me if I became good friends with you only for you to pass on in a mere 60 to 80 some odd years." He frowned, realizing that hardly would seem like a tragedy to her. "Then again, I suppose I can't go around offering hollowfication to every friend I make... still... For you, the offer stands."

I...It was...frightening, she didn't know if she could just accept something like that, all things considered. With her own concerns, plus...plus how she'd be trying to live out her life now... T-Those things could hardly continue...if she took such an offer...

Ikue gave a small nod to Yui when he mentioned illuminating possibilities. Th...For now that's all this was. They were just discussing possibilities, nothing needed deciding on right now at all.

"Th-Thank you, Yui... I-It's definitely something to think about...right now though, there's just too much...too much I can't just turn from..." Her school, her family...

"Hm, I understand. I don't want to keep trying to push the subject, but I'll say one last thing that, as ruler of Salvaje hollows, well... As long as one of my subjects partook of Salvaje's nectar to remain free of the need to consume human souls... I wouldn't see any need for them to stay in Salvaje. And many of us have ways to pass for human and interact normally, as you can see right now with me." He gestured down.

"I won't push you on the subject any further though if that doesn't sway you. More tea?" He asked, wondering if she wanted any more, peering to see if she had finished what she had.

Ikue gave a nod, it was...just something to think about right now, no making rash decisions just because she was talking about something that frightened her. It would be irresponsible, and dumb of her to do so...

At the offer of more tea, she looked down at what she had and noticed she'd already finished it without realizing. She had been taking small sips every now and then, she guessed...she'd taken more sips than she thought.

"Um, sure..." She nodded, accepting the offer. "Thank you."

He got up and headed over to the fridge, looking around for the tea. He was glad she didn't respond. It meant she was taking the offer seriously, one way or the other and that was all he wanted. Humans had short lifespans, but at least his perception of time was the same as theirs. So even if Ikue chose to be human, those years of friendship wouldn't go by any quicker for him than all those years in the past...

He sat back down and handed her the tea. "You know, if we were to become excellent friends, I could show you space." He said suddenly, realizing this was a relevant fact. He at least had realized to offer these sorts of things in the future. Despite being short lived, it didn't seem like Ikue was quick to act on most things, a quality he respected and admired. He felt like all of the new experiences made him too quick to do things if anything.

Y-Yui could show her space!? That...That sounded really amazing! It would be...really, really interesting and great to see! That was something for a later time though, when they were better friends! He was right!

Ikue nodded though, finally able to give another smile at hearing that.

"Maybe one day then!"

He grinned, looking forward to it. Now would he show her his zone in Salvaje or actual space. His zone was spectacular, and much safer, but it wasn't real space... Hrm... an issue for another day.

"So am I the first spiritual person you've met? There's so many of us floating around I'm surprised you haven't seen others. You can see ghosts, right?" It was a dumb question. If she couldn't see ghosts, she wouldn't have been able to see him in his true form.

"Um, well, I've seen ghosts, but I've never really spoken to any of them, I've also met a Bount...they were really, really nice to me and we're friends, other than that though I've never met anyone that was a shinigami or anything else..."

Despite having met two different races that weren't ghosts, she still didn't know a whole lot. She knew names now of the races, and a bit about the ones she had met though! She was definitely learning a lot! Yui had definitely told her a lot, and Alwin had too...

She was learning!

"Mm. Probably for the best. Ghosts are probably very confused. They have no knowledge of the various worlds but they have to deal with them now. They're basically newcomers far more than you humans who can see this stuff." He really felt bad for ghosts. The shinigami only did a so so job or orienting them to the spirit world.

"Oh, a bount? I've heard about them but never met one. That's good they were nice. I've heard they can be... very not nice." If the records he'd read were true at least. Still, it seemed she'd found a good one. He was also a little surprised he wasn't her first supernatural friend with how little she knew about things.

Ghosts didn't know much, well...when she thought about it, it made sense. Most might not have been spiritually aware when they were alive so when they died they were just...thrown into this whole thing...

At the mention of Bounts...

"Mhmm! They were really nice to me!" Ikue smiled, much calmer now than she had been before due to previous subjects; "I...never really ask that much, because I just want to enjoy a friends company when I make them...not...grill them on things, I also get... I guess talking about that stuff is difficult for me at first, it's just so rare to meet someone that knows about all that stuff when I've been quiet about being able to see ghosts for so long...but it's also a flaw on my part...

If those I meet are willing to explain things to me, then I should definitely ask! Aha..."

She knew she should ask things, a part of being friends meant sharing things about one another with each other it just seemed...well when it came to first meetings she didn't want to seem rude, but...

There were a lot of things that kept her from doing so, but those were the main things, definitely!

Hm. She didn't want to grill people or just... ask them things to dig for info and whatnot? Hrm... He looked unsettled again, frowning. "Have I... been a poor friend? I know it's only the first day we've met, but still.."

He had a... rather strong curiosity and was hoping it hadn't gotten the better of him. He just got so excited that there was a human who could see ghosts and loved SPACE. How awesome was that? But he may have overextended himself... Hrrmm... this was challenging, the whole socializing thing. He was used to more exotic personality types back in Salvaje, he supposed...

"N-No not at all! You've been a good friend, really!" Ikue quickly replied; he wasn't being a poor friend at all! It was her that had a problem asking people about things, if someone wanted to tell her things without her prompting then that was perfectly alright!

One day...one day she'd gather the nerve to ask things herself! One day!

"Oh good. I really was worried. I'm quite relieved." He said with a sigh expressing said relief. "I was worried I'd been a bad friend already. You are not my first friend, but you are very close to it and I would not want to have become a bad friend this early in my friend career." He said, being genuinely silly this time instead of unknowingly silly like he was others.

"So do you have any powers? Specific ones I mean, besides seeing ghosts and what not?" He asked, curious again.