Hunting down Nicholas

[squirrel101]

Keira watched as Mazuki began to run ahead of her. He ran to the train station since that was where they would be able to get to the University. Keira ran to catch up with him. She kept pace with him and smiled. "Damn you're fast even without using Shunpo!" she panted while using her leg mucsles to keep up with him.

She grinned as she ran beside him. Her zanpakuto at her side and a smirk on her face. She pulled her hair back in a ponytail as she ran. Her shinigami clothes and her sandals were the only sounds she made besides her panting. She felt her hot breath leave her mouth and warm her lips.

She saw children playing and smiled as they passed a loud playground full of playful shrieks and crying babies as well as giggles and laughter. They continued on through the town. They ran past buildings and a lovely couple sucking face on a bench. As they continued Keira thought she saw a familiar back that she had run into that morning.

She stopped. Mazuki ran ahead of her and in a moment he was out of sight. She blinked. "Oh well. I'll keep my spiritual pressure up and soon he will find me," she said turning around and doubling back while looking for the guy from earlier. "Hmmm, now where did I see him?" She continued this time walking on the sidewalk. She continued looking for him while chewing her lip.

[Nicholas]

Walking out of the library, Nicholas rubbed the back of his neck as he moved down the front steps before turning onto the sidewalk and beginning the almost daily ritual of walking back home to his apartment. While he was perfectly capable of working the full day, his boss had insisted that he go home early, and when he'd begun protesting she'd threatened to force him to use up one of the vacation days he hadn't touched since he'd been hired. Rather than call her bluff, Nicholas had backed down and agree to go home early, plus it also gave him the possibility of denying any involvement with the odd burn he'd left in the rug when he'd tried to experiment with his newfound control over what he had decided to call his aura from the dojo this morning. Lowering his hand from behind his neck, Nicholas had only walked about a block before he stopped dead in his tracks, a black clad figure running across the street another two or three blocks down.

You're shitting me.

[squirrel101]

"HA! There you are! Why the heck did you run away?!" the blond screamed at him. She quickly ran up to him with a friendly smile. "Hey, I never got your name!" she continued on nonchalant. "Sorry that crazy red head scared you off. He means well and he's a nice guy," she finished her rant.

Keira played with her ponytail. Her cleavage showed a bit through her uniform. It was too bad that the guys at school wouldn't see. She'd be pretty popular.

Back at the school...

Keira's body was eating a chocolate bar during class. Which wasn't unusual for a woman during her, cycle... But in this case her body was jumping up and down on a desk yelling, "bouncy bouncy!" Most everyone had their mouths hanging down.

Either because her breasts threatened to pop out of her uniform with each bounce or her unusual behavior. She acted like a six year old at recess. "Ah... Kuroda senpai? Are you okay?" a brave student asked her.

"Yes? Hop! Course hop I hop am HOP!" she yelled bouncing to another desk. She continued to giggle and eat her chocolate. Yes, Keira was definitely going to have to erase everyone's memories.

"Um, sensei did she do crack?" a girl asked. The teacher stared wide eyed at the crazed girl. Maybe she was rabid? Well if she was he needed to get everyone away from her.

[Nicholas]

Damn. I guess that answers the question of whether or not she's a shinigami or not, though.

Glancing around the street, Nicholas immediately turned to around and after waling a few steps turned to his left to enter the run down empty lot - while it was a crappy, run down place it offered a fair amount of privacy, and if she'd managed to follow him out this far then there was also the possibility that she'd manage to follow him home, and hell would freeze over before he allowed that to happen. In other words, while he would have preferred to simply ignore them entirely she was forcing him to deal with the issue, and deal with it he would. Stopping in the middle of the lot and turning around to face her with his hands in his pockets and his face expressionless, Nicholas finally spoke.

"Look, I don't know what the hell it is you want from me, but I'd much rather just get the matter done and over with than have you follow me around until who knows when. What is it?"

[Mazuki Aosora]

Mazuki was half way across town still dashing over the roof tops. He was looking all over the place trying to find the boy whom he met earlier. 'strange, I haven't seen him at all and I've traveled 7.3 miles from the school. Surely he couldn't have gotten further.' Mazuki finally thought about Keira. It was kinda weird. He expected her to be faster. However, he never really raced anymore before. "Hey Keira-chan! I honestly thought you were gonna leave me in the dust! Haha! How are you holding up back there?" Mazuki turned his head in mid-stride and stood in the air glancing over his shoulder. It got still for a moment until he burst. "WHAT THE HELL! SHE EVAPORATED!!!!!!" Mazuki screamed out across town approximately 4.7 miles away from where she was.

Mazuki narrowed his eyes and focused on the area around him. It was faint but it was still big enough to feel. Keira was far behind but not unreachable. "She must have found him!" Mazuki only assumed but he had a good feeling. In a full sprint, this time with as much leg strength he could muster, he dashed back into Keira's position. This kind of running would be a hassle but not tire him enough to stop. If anything he will have to breathe for a sec or two. Skating across the sky he began to hone in on Keira more and more. "I swear, even after we just made up, if she is just staring at birds or something, I'm sooo gonna hit her!"

Mazuki began to get closer and closer. While getting nearer to the target he began to feel something else. It was the presence of other shinigami. "Damn." Mazuki thought to himself. "Karakura is getting worse and worse. With this much spiritual activity a hollow could appear at any second." Mazuki pondered at the thought. If anything happened there would be enough shinigami to fight back, however an arrancar would be more difficult. Even with double the power he has now, Mazuki would have chance against one of them. He decided to throw out that idea and set his site out of for Keira again.

He had finally arrive above both the boy and Keira. He dropped from the sky and landed next to Keira and kneeled down. "Why didn't you say anything!?!?" Mazuki exclaimed. "I was almost in a whole other district when i relized you weren't their!" Mazuki looked at Keira with a puzzling face. His attention turned to the boy in front of her. "So you've located the target." Mazuki stoof up straight and combed back his hair. He began to stare down the boy with either interest or frustration....or both.

[squirrel101]

Keira sighed. "You didn't pay attention Mazuki. We were SUPPOSED to pay attention and look for him. Not go head first into running around with your head cut off. You need to use all your senses okay?"

She turned back to the human. "We come in peace..." she said in a teasing tone and laughed at her own joke. "No but seriously, we just want to talk. We need to find out if you are a danger to us and those around you. Meaning the humans around you.

If you are fine I'm sure you can go free. That's all we need is to know how dangerous you are with your powers. After all you have alot of spiritual energy." she stopped for a moment. "Um... to put it in a way you understand... you're like a gas tank leaking really bad. That means that these monster thingies will come after you if you can't plug it up or make it seem like it's not there."

She paused again. "So basically you're a danger to the ones you care about. This means the two of us need to make sure you aren't. Understand?" she asked the guy. She gave a friendly and reassuring smile to the guy.

"You know... you still never told me your name either..." she finished.

[Nicholas]

Nicholas simply stood completely still for a few moments as he worked things over in his mind. On the one hand, their story didn't add up. Granted, he'd gained more control over his abilities in the last several months, but more than anything that had to do with suppressing his presence, which in theory should have stopped what they were calling spiritual energy from leaking out to begin with, and they had to know he was capable of doing so since they had been forced to look for him the old fashioned way. On the other hand, while he could tell from their movements they were experienced fighters but at the same time no match for him in physical combat, they had yet to threaten him in any way, and he was admittedly slightly curious as to why it had taken them this long to contact him.

"Fine, I'll play along for a bit. I'd like you to answer a question of mine first, though. I've had my suspicions for awhile now, but no way to really verify it, and there were no concrete matches in any of the lore I looked in. Are you by chance shinigami, and if so, what the hell was that abomination I killed last night?"

[Mazuki Aosora]

Supposed to pay attention? This felt like an insult. Mazuki dropped his head. "I was paying attention. I was just going too fast. It's hard for me to come to a complete stop like that so I kinda....vroomed..." Mazuki sighed. Again it was his fault. He brought his head back up and let Keira do most of the talking. Indeed this guy was a danger. More dangerout than a gas leak. Mazuki stepped forward when she finished and halted when the boy began to talk. Thing he killed? It must be one of those things.

"Listen kid" mazuki started. "To answer your question I'm gonna haveto start ranting. Now sit back and listen." Mazuki extended his right arm far out and pointed towards the buildings and houses. "First, what you encounter was a monster. If I'm right you found a hollow. What class I don't know and honestly I couldn't at the moment." Mazuki turned his head to face the direction. "As shinigami we are here to protect the living from these things. They are cruel beasts that only care on hunger. And they feed on one thing. Souls. Powerful souls if they are lucky." Mazuki sighed and looked back the boy. "That's why we are here talking to you. To these beast you are a dinner bell that never stops. A 24/7 cafeteria."

Mazuki let out a breathe and stretched his back then resumed his speech. "Like Keira said, your like a gas leak. However I sort of disagree. Your far worse. With this much spiritual energy spewing out of you, you are more like naplam. His makes you a beacon for anything who wants a tastey soul to come for you. However, that doesn't mean they focus on you. It means they will stop for a snack. Understand?" Mazuki stopped for a minute. He had to take a break every couple sentenes so that most of this will process. "I don't want to be 'that guy' but to be blunt, kid you are a casualty to this entire city."

Mazuki closed his eyes. For now he was done but he didn't like giving bad news and he was sure he would have to continue. He closed his eyes and listened to the wind. He was going to let Keira take over now. While she talked now he was going to radar for anything near by. While these three were in the open, they were vulnerable to being attacked by anything. A hollow would be likely to come, however an arrancar would be the worst case.

[squirrel101]

Keira looked at Mazuki in awe. Wow, he was pretty smart then. It's not like she thought he was dumb but he explained things better than she ever could. She smiled slightly. "I'm sooo taking you out for drinks when we get the chance Mazuki," she said.

She then turned back to the guy. "So basically, we need to get you to stop leaking. Sure you seem to be able to hide your spiritual pressure sometimes but you need more practice and training. That or you could be terminated.

It's a decision shinigami would not like to make but one life against a whole towns worth... well you get the picture. We're not here to threaten you though. Instead at least make sure you're not our enemy. But since you fought a hollow I take it you're closer to our side than theirs."

Keira gave a reassuring smile. "If you cooperate you won't have to worry about that happening though. I'm sure this is all alot to take in."

Keira scratched the back of her neck and looked at Mazuki with a shy smile now. She had a bit of new admiration for her comrade. Maybe their friendship could work out. She probed the air around them with her senses searching for hollows.

[Nicholas]

Not moving an inch, Nicholas's eyes narrowed imperceptively out of reflex at the word "terminate". Silent until they had finished speaking, Nicholas took a moment to reply.

"First of all, let me get one thing straight. I've been living in this city for a year and a half, and I've been able to hide myself well enough that I've only drawn the things to me twice, with the second time being an improbable combination of bad luck, bad timing and a fluke. I do not consider myself at your mercy, and while I don't know exactly how strong you are personally, I know just by looking at your movements and stances that I could take both of you on and win." Nicholas said, eyes made of steel as he spoke. "On top of that, I don't understand why you give a damn. Here you are, threatening to trade my life for the entire city, but I've had yet to see any of you in force outside of the western districts killing the Hollows that I know are resposible for at least half of the missing people and homicide reports to the east."

Staring them down without giving an inch, Nicholas continued.

"That being said, I do agree that my technique is not as good as it could be. I've already been putting thought into the matter myself, and I don't need to be told things about myself that I already know by someone else. I fully intend to improve my ability to control whatever it is that's drawin these things to me, but I won't be as open minded the next time you threaten me."

[Mazuki Aosora]

Mazuki thought it nice of Keira's offer but he would take that up at a different time. Mazuki couldn't joke at this time. He wasn't sure of this boy knew what the hell was going on. "Ok, you say you fought these things twice?" Mazuki sighed and it seemed he was disappointed. "Two is two too many. Listen, just because you have a high spiritual pressure, it doesn't mean others like you have. Do you realize that the deaths in Karakura have spiked drastically recently?" Mazuki still wasn't but he need to get the idea across, that he and Keira aren't here for him. Mazuki was desperate to have the boy come with them. If he traveled with them, they could move to a larger location. If anything the soul society could 'use' him if nesseary.

Mazuki listened the kid's comment on how he 'thought' he could take use. Mazuki wanted to laugh but he was more insulted than pleased by a threat from a monkey. "You honestly think you could take us both? I'm sure your strong but we've had more time to hone ourselves than you could dream of." It was sure that this guy was determined to fight to be free, but didn't matter how this was going to go down. He WAS going to leave with Mazuki and Keira. Dead or alive.

Now to handle the persecution this brat was giving to two high-ranked shinigami. He obviously didn't understand this situation. "Listen, I personally would love to go out on a rampage killing any hollow I see but shinigami have something called priority." Mazuki bent down and picked up two stones, one larger than the other. He held the larger stone in his left and the smaller in his right. "We are spirits that bring balance, however to do these we have two jobs. Protect and serve." Extending his hands outward he let the kid see his hands better. "Let's say in my left hand is the population of Karakura. In my other hand is the population of the hollows in town. Which do you think weighs the heaviest? To do one job we, as a whole, have to distribute jobs. Me and Keira, we are the ones who go on patrol duty. To make sure people like YOU get to see the light of tomorrow. Now if we didn't patrol the safest areas, then how many hollows do you think you would have seen? Probably far more than you would like." Mazuki dropped the two stones and let a little 'pat' be heard from the two. "If we focused on just the hollows. We wouldn't have a job. Understand?"

Mazuki sighed once more. He realized how much of an ass he was right now. It was sad to say that about one's self but it was true. "Listen, kid." Mazuki began again. "I have a proposal for you." Mazuki had an idea that would more or less be a bit more reasonable than just tracting him down and taking him away. "There's an open area outside of town. From what I've here there is a hidden tunnel outside of town that shinigami use to train we they had to switch out patrol duty over long periords of time. Now a days, switch outs are very very short so no one uses it anymore." Mazuki inched closer and extended his hand out as to offer a hand shake. "We can take you there, there is a bakudo seal that hides all spirtual pressure for those who enter. You can train there. We can help you. And no one has to get hurt. What do ya say?"

[squirrel101]

As Mazuki was talking Keira pulled her hair out of her ponytail. She shook it out and put the band on her wrist. She then looked at the guy seriously. Keira played with her hair nervously. She wasn't good with serious stuff. That's why she was a fun seeker.

Keira's eyes widened as the guy seemed to think he could take them both on. He didn't even have a weapon. She wouldn't underestimate him but they were controlling how much spiritual pressure they let out too. At least Keira was.

Not to mention he had never seen them release their zanpakuto. Had he ever seen a shinigami in action? Maybe. But still, he must have felt like he was in a corner and was lashing out. Even for as smart as he was he still was doing it civilly.

Keira listened to how Mazuki worded how the shinigami worked. She had never heard it explained that way before. Mazuki had a way with words. He knew what he was doing and why he was doing it.

Keira's ears seemed to prick up with Mazuki's proposal. She pulled her hair back behind her ears so she could hear better. She was still probing their location with her spiritual senses to determine if any hollows would be paying them a visit.

She really didn't want a fight right now. Especially with this human. She may have liked training and making herself better but she wouldn't fight unless forced to do so. And she didn't want a fight unless she could avoid it and use diplomacy and talk things out.

Keira believed that it was the best way most of the time to settle something. Though as a Shinigami she still believed that sometimes you needed force to get through to someone or to protect something.

"Well? I agree with Mazuki one hundred percent. This is a good way for all of us to get what we need. You some training, the town protection, the shinigami have one less thing to worry about, and Mazuki and I won't get in trouble for not doing our jobs. I think is fair for all parties."

[Nicholas]

Nicholas again stood almost completely still, his arms barely moving as he slowly drew his hands out of his pockets, careful not to draw any attention to the movement, glancing down at the extended hand before returning his attention to the man's face.

"No. Quite honestly, I don't trust either of you. I'll be the first to admit that you aren't human, but all I've heard is the same crap that the local gangs gave me for the first few months after they learned they didn't stand a chance in hell of mugging me - 'Come with us or we'll kill you here and now'. For all I know you're just trying to get me out of town so you can kill me without a mess. I have no guarantee towards my safety, and no guarantee that you won't kill me if what you're saying is genuine but I fail to meet your standards. Unless you can offer me proof here and now, I think I'll take my chances. What I would be willing to agree to, however, is meeting at a location of my choosing with a single instructor who is unarmed."

[Mazuki Aosora]

Mazuki was a bit happen he and Keira were agreeing on something. He had no idea if she had blanked out and just decided to agree with him or if she really was listening. Either way, it was kind of funny because so far the two have just met and this is one of few times they can decide on something. Mazuki thought back a bit and he might have to have drinks with her, just for the kicks and giggles.

Mazuki listened to the boy rant on and on about he doesn't trust them and this and that about his skepticism. Mazuki did get excitable about a lot however the one thing that truly pissed him off was when he tryed to extend his friendship, someone rejects you. It practically spitting in his face. He waited till he was finished to speak. "So you really don't trust us. First off, I will humbly take up your idea on a meeting of your choosing. Even though a strongly disagree." Mazuki took out his zanpaktou. The sound of the blade strapping against the sheathe always made his eye twitch. He put on hand on the blade and another on the handle. He switched the blade around vertically and stepped on the guard to plant the sword into the ground. "I pledge my honor as a shinigami, that if any harm are to come to you or your loved ones, I will fall on my sword." Mazuki prciked his thumb on the zanpaktou tip and let the blood run down this sword. "This is a blood pact to you. Now do you trust me?"

Mazuki kept his eye on the boy. His fear of blood was going to get to him. He was somewhat good at masking his fear but sometimes he was too difficult. He laid his arm to his side and let the blood fall. If he looked at his hand then his fear would show. However, he was aware of the cut and the though of it caused his hand to shake ever so slightly. If he kept his eyes on the boy, hopefully the boy wouldn't acknowledge the shaking. One thing is for certain. He didn't want his secret out.

[squirrel101]

Keira winced as she heard what the boy said. So he still didn't trust them? Well she could see why but couldn't he see the honesty and willingness to compromise in their eyes? Perhaps he couldn't. It made her a bit sad since she hated it when people didn't trust her.

A slight breeze blew Keira's hair back. She continued to listen and watch. As Mazuki drew his blade Keira stared at him in shock wondering if he was going to try to fight the guy here and now. Luckily that wasn't the case. At least not yet.

"I pledge my honor as a shinigami, that if any harm are to come to you or your loved ones, I will fall on my sword." Keira stared at him in even more shock as he said those words. This amazed her. She knew Mazuki wasn't a total jerk or anything now. They just had a rough start. But she didn't know he was so honorable before.

Keira blushed slightly. Why the hell was she blushing? There was no god damn reason! She shook her head to clear it and continued to watch with amazement. She really needed to think about something else now.

Keira noticed the slight way Mazuki stiffened. She wondered about it slightly but shrugged it off. After all this was a serious moment. Who wouldn't be stiffer than usual?

[Nicholas]

Nicholas's back stiffened as he saw the man in front of him begin to draw his sword, prepared to disarm and incapacitate him if he needed to before he saw him make the oath. As he did so Nicholas noticed the man's discomfort, somthing that went beyond the slight pain drawing blood in that manner would do.

Hemophobia?

While he wasn't one to put much stock in the strength of spoken word when threats had already been made along with the fact that it wouldn't be much comfort to him if he did end up dead, the man's reaction to blood did more than the oath could have - at the very least he'd avoid a fight if only because of his own fear of blood.

"Not enough to turn my back to you, but enough to trust you won't start a fight as long as I don't give you a reason to. I'll leave a note with the location I have in mind tonight on the school roof where you were earlier, and I'll put in for the month or so of vaction I have coming to me. It's far enough out of town that you shouldn't have an issue with it, and I'll set out tomorrow morning. I'll leave it to you how the instructor will get there. A word of warning, though - if he or she isn't there alone and unarmed, deal's off. If our business here is done, I'll leave after you."

[Mazuki Aosora]

"Alright." Mazuki said. He may not have gotten what he wanted but hell at least it was something. If anything at least the kid could trust him somewhat enough to meet up with them later. "We will leave now if that's how we will be doing things." It was a shame he had to quit now, but after all the drama Keira and this guy put him through. Mazuki took a piece of cloth from his pocket and put it over his thumb. He tied the cloth in a bandage knot fashion to stop the bleeding. Mazuki felt a bit faint and wanted to sit down but he couldn't until he got home. "Shall we Keira?"

Mazuki didn't wait for her. He dashed away from the zone after he had quickly and firmly snapped his zanpaktou out of the ground. The idea of his thumb bleeding made him wince a bit. He ran over trees and buildings zigzagging back and forth. His direction was off a bit. His mind wasn't staying on track and he didn't plan on stopping. He had considered getting more information before he left but alas he simply could not due to the pure distraction of the blood.

[squirrel101]

Keira was genuinely surprised the the guy trusted them enough to do that much. Though she doubted that she would be the one to train him. They needed to report back to their captain about the incident though. They could either report to her directly or write a report about it.

Keira blinked as Mazuki wrapped his cut. Most shinigami were used to much larger wounds so why did he need to cover it up like that? Even Keira herself would just lick the blood off. But Mazuki was pretty stylish for a guy. Maybe he just was that way with cuts?

Keira nodded at Mazuki's question. Before she could answer though Mazuki took off. Keira blinked and watched him. She turned to the guy quickly. "Um, I'm really sorry about all this. I really am. You had to go through all this trouble and everything... if we meet again. I hope we can actually be friends. And next time you better give me your name," she said taking off after Mazuki.

Keira ran after Mazuki. She noticed his movements were abnormal. She'd seen him run earlier. This was not how he ran. Something was wrong. Was it because of that blood? It must be. Nothing was different...

Keira ran after him as fast as she could without the use of Shunpo. Mazuki had more upper body strength but she had more leg strength allowing her to be faster than him. Once she caught up with him she grabbed the back of his shinigami robes.

"Hold on! What's wrong Mazuki? Calm down and tell me already! I can't let you keep acting like this! What if a hollow attacked?! What's going on?!" she screamed needing the information. Instead of answering he ripped away from her. She in turn went rushing after him. All the way across town...

[Nicholas]

Nicholas still didn't relax when the two shinigami, instead moving carefully to the lot's entrance while keeping both his senses of sight and hearing alert. Moving out of the lot, Nicholas turned and began heading back to the library. As much as he hated being forced into the situation, it would have it's benefits if they were genuinely committed to the objectives they had mentioned, but at the same time it'd still have risks. On the one hand, it'd be a big advantage if he could freely control the aura he was giving off that seemed to draw in the hollows, but on the other hand few things were ever free. First and foremost he'd need to be careful not to allow himself to be cornered into owing them anything or to make any promises that would leave him as little more than a tool or an asset - the only reason he'd agreed to this was because he had no intention of getting drawn into the mess. Just the same, if he was going to do this at all it meant taking all the vacation time he had coming, as well as picking up a few other odds and ends on the way home before notifying the landlord that he'd be gone for a while. Picking up his pace until he was moving at a brisk stride, he moved through the library entrance and began making the needed preparations.

(OOC - my OC is done in this thread)

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