A Stroll to Remember

Stretching his arms, Kaimu gave out a relaxed breath. After having a nice nap he was feeling energized and relaxed and ready to face the rest of the day.

Now he just needed food.

He'd been walking for quite some time before he'd heard word that there were food stalls nearby. He had a little money on him, so he'd find something affordable and go about his business.


It felt good today, wasn't too hot nor too cold. It was just right for him, so he'd decided to sit and enjoy his recently purchased takoyaki outdoors on a nearby wooden bench.

He'd walked a lot lately, he was nearing the outer districts after days of wandering around. He had no set whereabouts in mind, he was a wanderer and wandering is what he did.

Just when he'd been about to take another bite, Kaimu heard a loud crash coming from his left. It'd sounded like a window had broken, or a card had fallen over but he couldn't see what had happened from where he sat so he wasn't sure.

Raising a brow, Kaimu's curiosity took hold of him and he stood, taking his food with him and walked towards the source of all the commotion.

As Kaimu approached the commotion, he'd find a bustling little intersection thrown into a panic. People all scurried around, hurrying into doors, or grabbing whatever they could use as a weapon. Someone was grabbing children out of the way and there was definitely an old drunk man laughing his beard off. In the middle of the intersection, a middle aged man stood, dumbfounded and not the least bit amused, as he was missing his pants. And disappearing through an open storefront, knocking down everything in its path, was the disappearing pants, with the unmistakable aura of a Hollow trailing with it.

Yes. This hollow was stealing pants.

Kaimu would scarcely have time to process this before he was bumped into by another mass of moving cloth. This time it was a large, fluffy white cloak flung over a smaller figure. The hood, which was adorned with kitty ears, was pulled far down over the wearer's head. "Excuse me! Coming through, Sorry~, Scuse me. SCUSE ME SIR." She pushed and excused her way through the crowd, before disappearing in the direction of the retreating pantaloons.

"Hol-oof!"

Before he could even get the word out of his mouth he felt a weight bump into him before immediately proceeding forward. A person from what he could tell, cloaked, but by the voice he'd heard and the smaller stature he could assume it was a female.

She was headed directly towards where that aura of a hollow was coming from.

Immediately he felt suspicion, was it a shinigami in disguise? Then again, her own reiatsu didn't feel like that of a shinigami's, it wasn't matching up...

His eyes narrowed, if she were just a villager she was headed directly into probable danger.

It wasn't his job anymore to deal with hollows, but that didn't mean he was just going to let bad things happen to innocent bystanders.

Letting out a breath, Kaimu took the last bite of his takoyaki before heading off towards the aura as well.

Elly chased through the Rukon streets after the renegade hollow, reaching up to tug down on her hood so it wouldn't come loose. She was suppressing her reiatsu pretty thoroughly, but that wouldn't hide her mask fragment if the hood came loose. Last thing she needed was to cause a panic before she secured the hollow. Of course THIS one would be the one to get out. The worst one... The pants thief.

It just... it didn't attack people. Didn't need souls... It just tore pants off of people and ran, before just chucking them and doing it again. It was an incorrigible little thing and it had to be stopped for the good of all. She darted through a building to cut it off as it looped around, but missed it just barely, breaking through a window in the process. It headed back towards the intersection down an alleyway. Elly groaned and took off after it. This would be so much easier if she could use Sonido... But that would TOTALLY give away her cover.

Kaimu watched from a few feet behind as the girl gave chase to the hollow, being sure to keep that hood over her head as she did so. He couldn't deny that she was following it now, but what for?

'Tch, I say leave it to the chick and bail. It's none of our business.'

'You're just getting lazy.'

'You wanna fight, Run-Away?'

'Save it for later, we don't have time for this.' Kaimu gave that final thought to Kuroshi as he pursued the girl and hollow through the ongoing wreckage.

It wasn't long before he caught up with the girl, "Oi, mind telling me why you're chasing a hollow of all things around? Shinigami patrols usually deal with this kind of thing."

His tone wasn't serious or harsh, but instead he'd said it a bit jokingly, just so he wouldn't scare the girl.

Elly almost had him, she swore. He was just,,,, slightly... out of... and then a voice! She gasped and spun around, momentarily forgetting the hollow. A civilian? No... He wasn't running away. Who was he? She instinctively pulled her robe up a little bit to make sure her mask fragments were covered. Once she was sure they were, she blinked at him a few times before smiling sheepishly. "Um... Because... I mean... do you see any shinigami?" She asked, looking around. "Er.. Someone.. has to deal with this little... menace, right?" What was she saying. Wow, Elly. Like, the worst at espionage. AND you let the hollow get away, genius! "Er... Who are you again?" she asked raising a hand to move her hair out of her face.

Quote :

"Um... Because... I mean... do you see any shinigami?"

Well, there certainly weren't any in the surrounding area, but if news spread like it usually did they'd be around in no time. They were in the outer districts, so it'd definitely take a little longer but still, most villagers flee from hollows, not try to fight them themselves.

Quote :

Er.. Someone.. has to deal with this little... menace, right?"

"Pretty brave for a civilian, though, I don't like seeing civilians get themselves caught up in such dangerous things when I can help it."

Quote :

"Er... Who are you again?"

"Ah~ right, name's Kaimu." He greeted, giving her a friendly smile.

"Yeah.. I mean... Someone's... gotta do SOMETHING, right? And uh.. It's nice to meet you, Kaimu." She said with a nod. She turned to leave then paused. Waaait a tic. She looked over her shoulder, eyes narrowed. "Wait... You said civilians... like you aren't one... If you're not a civilian..." she turned back around to face him. "Then what exactly ARE you?"

"I'm a wanderer, a wandering swordsman." Kaimu replied, there was no denying the sword at his hip, but he didn't have to say it was a zanpakutou. There were a good many swordsman scattered throughout Rukon, and that's just what he was. "I'm no permanent resident in any district, so I don't quite see myself as a civilian."

She couldn't help but smirk, relaxing just a bit. She took a step back, crossing her arms. "A wandering swordsman, huh? A little cheesy, but I can see it." Still, civilian was such a weird choice of words.. She was going to go out on a limb and assume this guy wasn't your average rukon citizen. She was about to go back to her business when she realized how rude she was being. She reached an arm out, her hand pushing past the end of her sleeve enough to shake. "Um... Elly Watson.. is my name.... by the way." She said, staring blankly at him for a moment before she managed a smile.

Quote :

"A wandering swordsman, huh? A little cheesy, but I can see it."

Kaimu simply smiled back at her, a small chuckle escaping him soon after.

Quote :

"Um... Elly Watson.. is my name.... by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Elly-tan." He replied, taking her hand to shake it once it was offered to him. "If you'd like, I might be able to help you out with this hollow problem. I think I have enough confidence in my swordsmanship skills to at least spook a hollow of that level."

She opened her mouth to say something, before pausing, pouting at him. Well this was a dillemma.. He was talking about using his sword... That couldn't be good. What if he was a shinigami and wanted to purify it... wait, what if he WASN'T a shinigami and wanted to just destroy it? Wasn't that WAY worse? Maybe. She barely understood how ghost global warming worked... But still... She couldn't just let him risk its life... But telling him why she wanted it safe would probably be a pretty hard lie to sell without telling him where she was from...

...ughh... Oh what the hell. Worst case scenario, she'd have a few more complications. So what. "Er.. Here... I need to show you something first..." She grabbed his wrist and began rather firmly dragging him along behind her as she headed for the nearest abandoned alley, walking down it and behind some cover. "If you're going to help me, I figure you need to see this first." she said, pulling down her hood to reveal the mask fragments on her neck. She also picked up the bottom of her robe and lifted, just enough to reveal the hollow hole on her stomach. "I'm... from out of town... and I'm supposed to bring that guy back."

He watched as she seemed to struggle with her thoughts, he was curious as to why but he wouldn't voice it. That hollow couldn't just roam freely, just because it wasn't hurting anyone now didn't mean it would stay that way.

Quote :

"Er.. Here... I need to show you something first..."

"Wh-ah!" Before he could voice anything, she took hold of his wrist and began dragging him into an alleyway. His eyes held obvious confusion. Why was she taking him there, couldn't she just show him what it was here? What about the hollow?

Quote :

"If you're going to help me, I figure you need to see this first."

He watched her expose her neck as she spoke, but Kaimu had little time to take in the bone fragments as she began lifting her cloak in front of him.

"H-hey, wait!" He said, his face turning a bit red. This was a little sudden! He wasn't the type to really get flustered but she was...before he even knew what was going on!

Once the hole was revealed though his eyes widened.

Definitely not a shinigami....nor was she a civilian of the Rukon Districts.

She was an arrancar.

Quote :

I'm... from out of town... and I'm supposed to bring that guy back."

He was quiet for a moment, taking in this new news shown before him.

'She's an arrancar, what're ya gonna do, Run-Away? Kekeke'

'...'

"So no killing him." Kaimu said, "Got it. I think I can manage that."

'You're helping an arrancar!? Kekeee!' Kuroshi was more ecstatic than disgusted, 'You've certainly reached a new form of low! Kekekeke!! You've just gone from rogue to outright traitor!'

She looked at him, one eyebrow raised as she lowered her robe. "Well... That was a rather quick agreement... Now here's the question. If you were simply a drifter, wouldn't you be a little more skeeved out by someone revealing they're an Arrancar?" She crossed her arms, looking him in the eyes. "Now... I've revealed to you who I am. Don't you think it's about time you did the same? I could be trusting you with my life if you're not who I say you are, after all." She tapped her foot. She didn't particularly like being on uneven playing grounds with people.

"Fine. Rogue." Kaimu admitted with a small grin. "I abandoned my duty as a shinigami and cut ties with the Seireitei. Of course, I'm wanted for that but..." He shrugged, "it's been a good few hundred years and here I stand."

"That's why I don't care about you being an arrancar." He added, "If you were posing a threat, sure, then I'd care since I don't like seeing harm come to innocent villagers." He gave a lighthearted laugh, "If you're still worried about me being a shinigami, think of it this way, I've cut my ties with the Seireitei and therefore wanted. I want nothing to do with them. So I'd gain nothing by harming you."

She pursed her lips as he explained his situation. Abandoned his duties? She had to wonder why. That would be less curiosity and more prying though. And Elaine Watson was no pry-er... even if she sort of wanted to... Well, whatever, she would pry later. "I see. I'm glad you're so open minded. A lot of shinigami just sort of want to hassle me." She gave an exasperated sigh along with the comment. "Anyway, I'd definitely appreciate the help. I can't Sonido because I don't want to alarm the villagers, which is making this kind of a difficult task. So let's get going." She turned to leave before pausing.

"Oh, and don't worry. I was NEVER worried about you harming me. I don't think you could." She said with a tiny chortle and a coy smirk.

Quote :

"Anyway, I'd definitely appreciate the help. I can't Sonido because I don't want to alarm the villagers, which is making this kind of a difficult task. So let's get going."

"I see, I suppose the easiest method would be to try to cut it off and corner him." Kaimu thought aloud, it'd been awhile since he wrangled a hollow and usually he just killed it in the end. This time though he wouldn't be doing that, so he'd need to be careful.

Quote :

"Oh, and don't worry. I was NEVER worried about you harming me. I don't think you could."

'Oh, dear. Elly-tan you underestimate me.'

Despite the thought, Kaimu just gave her a laugh and a smile.

"Right, let's get going." He said, following Elly's lead.

"Hrm... Cornering him, huh. I guess that IS an option I didn't have by myself. All right. Well, first thing's first would be to find where he is. Considering his quirk, I think the easiest path would be to just... go find the pantsless people... You wanna split up or should we search together?" she exited the street, turning and resting a hand on her hip to see what he wanted to do. "It's pretty fast, so we could cover more ground splitting up, but then we'd have to be able to contact each other once we found it.." She hrmm'd to herself, trying to come up with some sort of solution, before pulling her hood up and crossing her arms.

Kaimu thought as well, there was always the option of spiking their reiatus if they found it, but that was extremely dangerous and risky, especially if there were shinigami patrols in the surrounding districts. With shunpo, it wouldn't take a patrol long to get here.

It wasn't that he was afraid of simple patrol officers, he just thought the burden of having to deal with them was unnecessary, especially since they would likely try to fight or attack.

And if Elly happened to find it first, then it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that any nearby officers would report feeling the presence of an arrancar...They weren't likely to stop or give up any kind of search if that were to occur.

"Mm..." Kaimu continued to think, splitting up becoming a less likely option with how many ideas he disproved in his mind despite the advantage of covering more ground.

It was around this moment that Elly heard a terrorized shriek from down the road. She turned quickly. It was attacking! "C'mon! Planning time over! We gotta go!" She clumsily reached out to try and pull Kaimu along as she sprinted out of the alley. Down the road, a surprisingly burly man for such an ear piercing shriek was trying to cover himself and gesture down the road at the same time. "A.. A.. A monster! Was it a hollow? It took my pants! IT TOOK MY PANTS!" He began to tear up and sprinted away.

"AFTER IT!" Elly shouted, running off.

Before they'd decided on a plan a shriek resounded from down the road, it was then that Elly rushed off and Kaimu immediately followed.

They were met with a panicked man attempting to cover himself after the hollow had decided to make him the target of it's antics. They needed to catch this thing and fast before it left the entire district in disarray.

Quote :

"AFTER IT!"

"Right!"

Elly tried her best to sense the movement of the hollow. Up? She looked up. "I think it went up this building!" She shouted to Kaimu before sprinting inside. Inside, she found a woman hiding behind a wall, looking terrified up the stairs. "Up up up!" She shouted energetically before sprinting up the steps.

Of course, it seemed there were in fact, more stories then it looked like, and around 10 stories of the building up, Elly's enthusiasm was wearing thin. And then when she got to the roof and looked around, she pouted and dropped to the roof, crossing her legs indian style. She buried her head in her hands from exasperation. "Great. Slippery little prick got away." She said, a little winded.

Kaimu followed, though by the time they'd reached the roof the hollow was no where in sight. He noticed Elly take a seat, her previous enthusiasm gone having lost it's trail.

Quote :

"Great. Slippery little prick got away."

"Seems so." He replied, his eyes roaming the surrounding area just in case. "You seem tired though, perhaps we should take a break before continuing the search, Elly-tan." He added with a smile.

She looked up. Was he taunting her? Shinigami jerkface..... Nah, he seemed legit. She sighed and moved to sit on the rooftop's edge, getting more comfortable. "Sure. Let's take a break." She pushed her hair back a bit, before looking over at Kaimu. "So... While we're just sitting here. Tell me more about yourself Kaimu. How'd you wind up bailing on the Seireitei?" She crossed one of her legs and got comfy, ready for storytime.

Quote :

"Sure. Let's take a break."

After she moved to sit on the ledge of the building, he followed and sat next to her, letting out a breath as he looked up at the sky rather than the villagers below; it wasn't long before he felt Elly's eyes on him though, but he didn't bother returning her glance.

Quote :

"So... While we're just sitting here. Tell me more about yourself Kaimu. How'd you wind up bailing on the Seireitei?"

His expression darkened slightly for a moment before he moved, his eyes looking out in front of him now rather than above. "They murdered my little brother." He replied simply, his previous playful tone gone now.

Though, it wasn't much, and he knew that.

"He...had some problems...and I wanted to help him. He was the only family I had left so I wanted to save him, wanted to anything to help him come to his senses." He added, "The other shinigami didn't even bother to think, didn't bother to try to arrest him as they were ordered to and give him trial, they just killed him. I didn't want anything to do with them after that. I realize, there probably wouldn't of been much hope on anything good coming out of him being captured and given trial, but still...There was a chance I could have helped him...That's all I wanted to do."