A night out in Rukongai

Captain of the 7th Division, Shin'ichi "Ace" Hasegawa happened into the Rukongai not long ago. He was in need of a stiff drink, and to get away from his men at the HQ. He shifted around on the stool, feeling uncomfortable on the tiny bit of wood on account of his massive size. He was dressed in Shinigami garb, though comfortable with letting everyone know who he was. He emptied his cup of sake and nodded for the tender to fill his glass again.

After a day's hard work, he needed the time off and a stress reliever. He was a quiet, brooding man. He didn't associate much with others, purely stemming from uninterest. He had his Zanpaktou at his side, his beloved Densetsu Kirureru.

Others in the bar knew of him; He had just become the Captain not too long ago, but his size deterred most who thought about attacking him. He stared into his cup and sighed, taking a generous sip.

Kya Matsuto, nothing but a lowly third seat, wandered into the bar. The only thing she was looking for was some cover from her Captain. She knew that women would be looking for her as a drinking buddy, but she rarely came out of Seireitei to drink, so she was hoping she would be safe there. All she wanted to do was enjoy a peaceful meal before going back to her quarters. She was starving after having not eaten all day since she had been busy dealing with the duties the Captain was supposed to deal with, or even the Vice-Captain. But unfortunately no Vice-Captain had been appointed to the Third Division yet and the Captain...well she would rather drink than do paper work.

Kya took a seat at the bar, ordering something to eat and a simple drink. She lay her head on the counter, hoping the food would hurry. "Too much work today...wish taicho would do something...", Kya murmured aloud, mostly to herself. She had been too focused on her hunger to realize she had sat right next to a Captain.

{Hope you don't mind? ^^}

[ Not at all, though this had been intended for someone else. It's cool. ^^ )
Shin'ichi shook his Sake glass around and had took another generous sip when he heard the person beside him mutter something to herself. He glanced over, immediately recognizing her as Kya Matsuto from 3rd Division.

He finished the Sake in his glass and set it down again. "So, Kya. What are you doing around here in Rukongai? A dangerous place, you know." He murmured while his glass was being refilled. He was, without doubt, going to leave the bar drunk.

{Oh! I'm sorry! T_T Now I feel bad for stealing this...}

Kya jumped as she suddenly hear her name and quickly sat up, looking over at him. Her face lit up bright red now as she saw it was the Captain of the Seventh Division. Great. She was about to make a fool of herself. Damn shyness. "O-Oh! I-I'm really sorry!", she bowed her head to him, "I-I didn't see you there Captain Hasegawa..!". At the mention of this place being dangerous, she turned her attention back to the counter, now beginning to fiddle with the sleeves of her uniform. "W-Well...I-I grew up in a p-part of Rukongai...s-so...it doesn't bother me...", she trailed off. Why she was so shy around new people, she would never know. She really did wish she could be more confident instead of a stuttering mess.

[ No, it's okay. ^^ I just moved it, and I'm comfortable with multi-play. ]

Shin'ichi nodded, as if he understood this. He did, though. "Well, even if it doesn't, you should keep it in mind. You're among our ranks, and the Rukongai tends to be filled with people who hate us." He reminded her.

He sighed and took a generous sip from his Sake glass and paused to lick his lips. "Just call me Shin'ichi," He offered. "Formalities aren't really needed in a bar." He said simply. Hunkered over the bar, he made for an amusing sight. At an incredible six foot five inches, and built like a wall, it would be easy to understand someone being nervous around him.

She looked at him as he told her to just call him by his first name. She didn't want to offend him though so she simply nodded and turned her gaze back to the counter. She fell silent for a moment, chewing on her lip as she tried to gather her words together. "I-I'm sorry...if I stutter...I'm just really shy around n-new people...", she apologized. This was her usual apology to those she just met. At least it let them know that it wasn't their fault for her stuttering like a fool. It was the shyness.

Shin'ichi smiled at this. He shrugged some and finished off the Sake in a few swallows and pushed his glass away after setting it lightly on the bar. He grunted in response to the tender who offered to pour him more, and did so. He looked over at Kya, studying her small frame. When she was nervous, she looked kind of cute... or was that the Sake?

It didn't matter, and he gave himself a shrug. "It's all right, it gets the best of all of us sometimes." He murmured into his glass. He felt eyes on his back, and it made him uneasy.

Kya thanked the bar tender as her food was placed in front of her and she quickly began to eat. Not piggish of course, but quick enough that the food would go by fast. She was starved. She looked over at him and then back at her food. "Maybe...", she murmured. She took a deep breath and released it in a sigh, trying to calm her nerves. She was rarely in the presense of other Captain's besides her own so that was probably another reason she felt so nervous. Despite her shy attituderight now, she did have an opposite personality. Unfortunately that confident, loud mouthed side of her only came out when she was really annoyed or angered, which was also a rare sighting. Sometimes she wished that side of her would stay out once in a while. She took a drink of her sake she had gotten with her meal. She knew she wasn't going to have anymore than at least two cups. She wasn't ready to get drunk right now.

Kya's form tensed slightly though, the small hairs on the back of her neck standing on ends as she suddenly felt this uneasyness fill the bar. She glanced back, noticing the stares. 'Maybe it was a bad idea to come in uniform...', she thought to herself.

Shin'ichi had been thinking the same, though what he hadn't thought that people would be foolish enough to try and attack him. "... Two, maybe three coming up behind us," He thought. He passed another glance towards Kya. "Forget the food," He whispered. There wasn't enough time as the first attacked. He shoved Kya off her stool and a blade came down, lodging in the bar where she used to hunker over, obliterating the plate her food sat on.

Shin'ichi reacted automatically, decking the ruffian and turning to deal with another. He disarmed him quickly and shoved him through a table and leaned back as another blade lashed out at him, cutting his cheek.

Kya gasped at the sudden push he gave her, but was quite thankful despite having hit the floor roughly as she watched a blade come down where she had been sitting. That could've been her. She swallowed hard, watching as Shin'ichi began to fight off the three but as he took them down, more began to gather the courage to fight since their buddies had been taken down. Kya rose to her feet as quick as she could, unsheathing her zanpakuto and blocking one of the men that was armed with a blade as he went at Shin'ichi from behind. 'So much for a peaceful meal...', she thought as she shuved the man away. She yelped slightly as someone swung at her head and managed to duck down just in time so the blade barely missed her, but managed to cut a few strands off of her red hair.

She looked at the strands as they fell to the floor and she reached back, feeling a part of the back of her hair was quite short than the rest, making it look awful. She glared around her. "You cut my hair!", she exclaimed in obvious anger. Now came her opposite personality. "That's one thing about a girl you do NOT screw with, her hair!", she stated as she swung her zanpakuto at the man, skimming his front, managing to cut open his shirt before kicking him away.

Shin'ichi growled at the light cut. It wasn't much, and it didn't bleed very well, but it still pissed him off nonetheless. He grabbed his Zanpaktou by the handle, closest to the guard, and pulled it from its sheath. He slammed the studded pommel into a ruffian's gut and unsheathed the worn katana.

He grabbed at Kya's armsleeve, tugging her towards the door as they retreated out, while the men closed in on them slowly, their weapons drawn and ready to fight.

She growled, about to beat the guy that had cut her hair to a bloody pulp when she was suddenly grabbed and pulled along towards the exit. "Hey! I wasn't finished!", she exclaimed, but now noticed all of the men ready to fight them and her personality immediately switched back, "O-Oh...". She was quite relieved when they exited the bar, but it wasn't over yet since the men seemed to follow. It was either fight or retreat back to the place safest for them. She gripped her zanpakuto tightly as the men began to follow. "W-Where to..?!", she asked quickly.

Shin'ichi pushed Kya down the road a piece. "Just go!" He commanded her aa one of them rushed at him. He growled and kicked him back. He cut down one who rushed him, and ran his blade through another. He wounded them seriously, but not fatally, enough to put them out of the fight. Deterring the others, he rushed after Kya.

She stumbled slightly as she was pushed. She didn't feel right just abandoning a Captain like that, even if that Captain wasn't her own. But she did none the less. She held her blade tightly as she ran just in case it was needed again. 'I just wanted to relax and have a nice meal...I knew I should've went back to my quarters...even if Captain Hanabi was waiting for me there, it would have been better than coming here in my uniform!', she thought to herself, turning sharp down another street and heading towards the safety of the wall around Seireitei.

{Might lose power. Big thunder storm. So if I stop posting, that's why ^^;;}

Shin'ichi knew they would follow, and Captain Hanabi would have his head if Kya was hurt no doubt. Even if she wasn't from his Division, she was under his care at the moment. He turned and growled. "It's time, Densetsu Kirureru! This is over!!" He announced his release phrase, the Zanpaktou morphing into an elegant blade. It became enveloped in wind, and it caused them all to stop. He swung forward and a gale burst from the katana, streaking towards them, causing the group to leap from the way. It tore up the ground, leaving a gash down the middle. Satisfied, he turned and rushed off after Kya.

[ It's all right. ^^ ]

She looked back, not seeing him anywhere behind her. She continued to run while looking back. 'I hope he's ok...really...it would be my fault if he was hurt for abandoning a Captain like that...', she thought to herself, now worrying about Shin'ichi. She gasped as she suddenly ran into someone who wrapped their arms around her and held her in place. "Hey now...what's a shinigami doing here?", the man asked, his buddies laughing, "And a cute one at that". Kya looked up at him, the man obviously drunk. She tried to pull away. "Let go...", she instructed. "Hm..? What was that?", the man asked. "I said let out...or else...", she repeated. "Nah, I don't think so. You shinigami think ya all that and you can go anywhere ya want. Well not on my watch", the man stated, reaching out to grab her hair, jerking her up off the ground. She winced, releasing her zanpakuto, which seemed to hit the ground with a loud 'clang'. She reached up, trying to make this man let go of her hair.

Shin'ichi soon appeared down the street that Kya had, where she had the misfortune to run into the gang. He cast his shadow on them, and he still clutched his Zanpaktou, which roared with energy. "I suggest you do as she says," He called out to them gruffly. He was not in a mood to play.

The men looked at him. The man holding her didn't for a moment though. "And who do you think you-", but he stopped mid-sentence as he saw Shin'ichi with a displeased look and his sword drawn and released. A Captain. A rather large and well built Captain. Not someone this gang wanted to mess with. The man immediately released Kya, causing her to fall down onto her knees. "Y-You're off the hook this time! B-But next time you're dead!", the man threatened loosely, trying to act tough as him and his men backed away, "Both of ya!". With that, they ran off.

Kya sat there now for a moment, feeling ashamed because she had been saved yet she could have very well dealt with the men if she hadn't lost grasp of her zanpakuto. 'Ohh...I must seem so damn weak...', she thought, annoyed at herself as she rose to her feet, lifting her zanpakuto with her and looking back at Shin'ichi and then away in shame.

Shin'ichi relaxed as his zanpakutō's energy died off and reverted. He sheathed the katana and made his way over to Kya, brushing her off. "You okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned. He touched her face, forcing her to look back at him. He felt the shame.

She looked at him as he turned her face towards him. "I'm sorry...
"", she apologized, "You shouldn't have had to protect me or save me...". She sheathed her zanpakuto, "But I'm ok...".

Shin'ichi let his hand drop away from Kya's face. "No, it is fine. It was both our fault, being around these parts, and at night." He admitted. "And I did what I was supposed to do. It wouldn't have made a difference if you were a Captain or not, I'm obligated to watch out for you." He sighed, glancing towards the Seireitei walls.

Despite his words, she was still feeling ashamed. "I guess...", she murmured. She had worked so hard to get stronger, to make a better life so she wouldn't be like the very people that had attacked them. The very people that would have most likely killed them. But this part of Rukongai was one of the better ones. The one she grew up in was far worse. She then turned. "I-I guess we should head back now..", she stated, now beginning to walk towards the wall.

Shin'ichi sighed and nodded, licking his lips. He glanced back at the Rukongai and then followed after her. He touched her shoulder as they walked. "Listen, don't beat yourself up over this..." He murmured. "No one's perfect." He said and let his hand drop, walking on.

She looked over at him as she felt his hand on her shoulder. She listened to his words before looking away. She wasn't in the mood to argue with him, nore would she since he was a Captain so she bit her tongue and continued to walk. Once at the gate entrance, they showed their shinigami passes all shinigami carried when leaving into Rukongai and entered. She wasn't too sure what she wanted to do now. She had lost her appetite due to the fighting, but she didn't want to go home yet.

Shin'ichi really didn't have much plans himself, seeing as he had been out drinking in the first place. He trusted his men to hold down the barracks, and he planned on... doing something. He looked back at Kya, and frowned. What was he going do with her? He paused, still glancing back over his shoulder. "I trust you've got a place to stay?" He blinked.