Researching the Past!

Aoi had no idea what she should be doing, but asking around her rather kind squad helped her pinpoint where she could begin. The squad itself had data on fullbringers, but she hadn't wanted to raise alarms by her asking or researching too much. Having asked where she could do some side research, all in the name of getting used to and knowing her place inside and out, Aoi headed for Squad 10.

It was the repository for all the knowledge the shinigami obtained and was rather interesting to her. She tried not to gawp, really she did, but her bright blue eyes were curious and happy as she looked around. "Uwaaah! This is so interesting. I don't know where I should be going though..."

There was a desk nearby with a young man who looked about her age, though looks were deceiving. Who would ever know what Aoi died about 200 years ago in some hovel from starvation? She wouldn't have even been able to pinpoint the country or time she died now, having no access to that knowledge then and definitely not now.

He could be much older and have actually seen history in the human world for all she knew. With a grin at the thought, it could be fun learning a bit more, Aoi walked up to the desk in her off hours clothing. Which consisted of her bodysuit still, but over top of that was a sort of rip off of a kimono. It was much shorter and looser and had a vest instead of a traditional top, with a short belt around her middle. It couldn't be called an Obi, but it was flat and tied in a bow in the back and was a light red. The vest style outfit was light blue, while the bodysuit that went up to and partially up her neck was a deep much darker blue. It was made of much looser and softer material, as well as stretchier, than her working armorish bodysuit.

"Hello! I am from Division Six, I need some information on the living world's spiritually aware humans." Aoi, right to the point as she smiled at the person.

The hollow reared its head, no its seven heads, darkness billowing out from them. This was no ordinary hollow. It was the apocalypse beast, come to end the seireitei and all of its inhabitants. This was the true end of days and this was the last of the destroyers. All would fall before its might, before it returned to darkness to destroy further worlds.

But not today. Today there was a champion. There was Hideki Nishimura. He took a few steps forward, looking up at the beast. "You're pretty mean. Of course, not the nastiest thing I've fought yet." He said with a smirk. Somewhere in the beasts eyes, bright red though they may be, he was certain he saw fear. He cocked his zanpakuto, slung over his shoulder, a bit to the side before twirling it like a dervish, finally pointing it firmly at the beast. "So tell me. You want to take the first move? Or should I start this dance? Come on, say something? We need to put it on your tombstone!" He shouted, so cool. He narrowed his eyes as fire began to erupt from the mouth of the beast. This was it. Climax, the final showdown. The fate of worlds. ONE FINAL CONFRONTATION!

Hideki continued to doodle in his book, making little fighty noises with his mouth, whooshes and clangs and pchoos. On the page below him was a crudely drawn version of what could only be himself, wielding an oversized sword and pointing it at some sort of seven headed squiggle monstrosity. Not his finest work, but he was bored. He continued shading in the monster when he heard a voice only a foot or so away. His eyes snapped up to see the girl standing there, almost as quickly as the book snapped shut. "Yes, welcome to the library!" He said, face completely frozen in as neutral of an expression as he could possibly imagine. "We have stuff on books for that!" He blinked twice, not entirely sure how to continue from this point.

"I am glad, thank you." A relieved smile spread across her face as Aoi stood near the desk. She needed this information badly and she didn't even jump as the book snapped shut, just happy that she had made it to the correct place. "I thought you would, being the library for the Seireitei."

She tilted her head and then coughed into her hand politely, her red hair falling over her shoulders whenever she moved her head. "Would you help me to that section? I am...kind of lost. This place is so big and large, I don't think I could find it on my own."

Maybe he was new, so she must be very kind. She was new too, so this whole thing was awkward for her to try and ask about.

Okay. She didn't immediately run away! He wasn't going to be forced to shelve the history section again. Horrible job. Took a week and a half. Happened every time he scared off a shinigami. "Well.. Er.. Yeah." He cleared his throat, sitting up straight. He glanced up at the girl, but then immediately looked back down at the book he was holding.

"Sorry about that! My name is Hideki Nishimura! I'm the Tenth Squad Lieutenant and Head Librarian of the Great Spirit Library! I actually don't need to find the section at all!" He said, opening his book again, this time to what looked like an empty page. "See, my handy notebook here has SO much of the library put into it, that all I need to do is simply ask it to show me titles on spiritually aware humans and-"

There it was on the page, in plain black ink. Small enough he could barely read it. Small enough his visitor would not be able to. It said 'nope.' God, his Zanpakuto sometimes.

"And it appears, my Zanpakuto does not have anything on this subject!" He suddenly stood up, a little sheepish. "So, I'll be leading you to the section after all. It'll be right this way Miss-" he had intended to trail off so she could answer, but he had just now chosen to look at the girl in question "Murahana!" For the second time today he looked absolutely shocked. "Y-You're that cute teacher!" That wasn't right, she clearl wasn't a teacher now. "Er, that cute Shinigami!" NO! "I mean that REGULAR teacher." Are you even trying, brain? "I mean... Right this way!" He pivoted on one foot and began walking, trying to pretend that conversation hadn't just happened.

Aoi couldn't help her smile getting large as she listened to the young Shinigami introduce himself as the Lieutenant of the library quite enthusiastically. It was nice to see he enjoyed his work and took pride in his job, she was definitely in good hands! Her body never twitched as she waited for him to check his handy notebook for some sort of information, though she really did want to lean forward and read off of it. She was extremely curious as to its information... It seemed rather blank from her point of view.

Oh! It was his zanpakuto! Aoi reached up and patted her long staff that was attached to her back somehow. It was interesting to see how other's turned out. "Hehe, than-"With a giggle she went to thank him but he seemed to recognize her instead. Her face flushed as he said she was the cute teacher and she looked anywhere but at Hideki. "Erm, yes I was...A teacher. Now I am the Sixth Squad Lieutenant... You must have been one of my students? But I am Aoi now, and you are my peer so you can call me so okay?"

She was ready to pretend he hadn't said cute if he was and she followed behind the other Lieutenant

While it was nice to see SOMEONE intrigued by his zanpakuto and his... librarian-ness, Hideki sort of wished it hadn't been by a former teacher he'd babbled a series of compliments to? Or is that even weird? He was most likely reading way too into this. The red in his face faded by now, making it officially safe to face her again. It was odd, but not surprising though that... Aoi, he supposed, as she'd said to call her, had reached Lieutenant status. She always seemed to know her stuff. He spun a little, walking backwards while talking to her "Really! It's about time! In addition to other aforementioned qualities, you always seemed the best suited for work in the Gotei 13." He approached a large bookshelf as he continued to move backwards. He seemed just about to walk into it, before he suddenly leaned sideways, still facing her and drifting sideways, turning to head down the aisle.

"It's just down this way, actually. Not a HUGE section. But there should be some interesting information. What are you hunting for, if you don't mind my asking?" He glanced over his shoulder again as he asked.

"Hehe, thank you. Teaching was more important at the time though." The redhead flushed again and tried to keep an eye on where she was walking or anywhere but the person she was talking to. He kept complimenting her! She couldn't seem to deal with it right now. Rin had her all frazzled. Normally she didn't even NOTICE these sorts of flirts, maybe she should have taken some time off instead of heading right here.

Frustrated at herself, she slapped her cheeks lightly and took a deep breath and then spoke while trying to ignore her face's heat. "I'm sorry that I don't remember you as much as you do me, it feels bad but I did have a lot of students. You spent... a lot of time on the ground if I remember right... I thought one time you got a head injury since you stopped moving when I pinned you down."

"Oh, I just need a few things..." Aoi wondered how much to tell Hideki. For her human boyfriend wouldn't go over well so... "I am looking into fullbringers. I think I sensed a few in the town I am currently learning the work of my squad in and wanted to learn their capabilities and any sort of threats they may pose to my work."

Yes! Good lie. That sounded authentic.

Hrm. He wondered what made her change her mind? He decided to go ahead and ask later, letting her talk for now. He was also a little distracted by her face. Okay, not THAT way. It was just very red, all the time. Odd. He had called her cute, but he should be more flustered then her. Saying she was a good lieutenant? That didn't call for... okay, now she was trying to make herself stop. Something had to be at work here. He stopped, turning and facing her with an intrigued furrow of the brow. "Hrm..." He stared for a second, taking a few steps away, before turning and walking down the aisle quickly.

He seized up and stopped in his tracks however, immediately walking back, raising a finger as if to counter her point. He didn't remember her THAT well. She was a cute teacher, that's all. He opened his mouth to talk before she talked about... THAT incident. "I...." he paused, trying to come up with a retort, before settling on "am a lot stronger now." Was all he could think to say. He turned and headed back down the aisle, looking up and rolling his eyes at himself. That's all you had, Hideki? Bad lies?

"Fullbringers, huh? Odd bunch. No real consistency there. Just an oddball bunch of powers and stuff. Pretty neat, as humans go, actually." He said, finally reaching the section he was looking for. "Now uh... I believe they are..." He pulled a pair of glasses from the crook of his book and placed them on, squinting a bit as he looked around the shelves. "Oh! They are... up there." He pointed flatly at a row of books about...seven shelves up. "All.. the way up there..." He looked around. "Crap..." he muttered under his breath. Where was a ladder when he needed one?

"Y-yes? Is something wrong?" Hideki's hmming bothered Aoi, and she felt like she was being examined too much so she turned red again soon after. Her cheeks puffing in worry she made a hrming sound at Hideki. He seemed rather interested in her for some reason that she couldn't discern. She was just here for the information...

His response to her memories made her giggle again. She DID have to give Hideki that. Her blue eyes twinkled as she smiled sweetly to him. "You are a Lieutenant so you must be stronger. Maybe you could be the one pinning me if we had match again, it would be fun to see how far we've both come. Active duty in the living world has been enlightening."

"They are very neat and interesting." Sighing, she shuffled her curls as they reached the area. She watched him pull a pair of glasses out her zanpakuto, bursting with questions she couldn't ask at the moment. She vibrated as she did when excited and waited to hear about her books. At the man's pronouncement that they were seven shelves up, she laughed and disappeared with a small sound.

Reappearing at the correct shelf, in a perfectly executed flash step, she leaned forward and took a few books off of the shelf. She leafed through a few pages before pursing her lips in a bit frustration. "Huh, this is a journal it seems. Are most of them journals or do we have more concrete works to work with, Lieutenant Hideki? Like detailed descriptions of such powers... And what happens when one of them dies. Do they become hollows?"

She seemed rather specific about her curiosity...

He smirked at her reaction to his investigation. He liked this one. Not many people that just puffed up and 'hrm'd right back at someone in that situation. He always did get a little silly when he got a chance to actually do stuff. Usually he got disapproving stares. It was nice to have some people around every now and then who he could actually have some fun at work with.

He was pacing around a little when she made the pinning comment and he sort of paused in his tracks, glad he was facing away from her. She... Hrm. There wasn't exactly any special inflection on that, no odd pauses, no attempt to get his attention. She probably didn't realize she said it. Still, the implications of the sentence were... distracting.

He eventually came to and spun around to see her up on the shelf there. Huh. Speak of the devil. He walked over towards her, trying to remain at a respectable angle, eventually leaning on a shelf to the side of her a little. "Well, I haven't gone through those at length, but I'd imagine there's not MUCH data. We only discovered Fullbringers as a confirmed thing a relatively short time ago. There might be a few books in there, but it's mostly on their origin. Nobody has gone around killing any to see what happens, for sure." He put a finger to his glasses. It seemed like he was simply adjusting them, but really he was thinking about them specifically. He supposed, if he had enough time... he COULD... hrm. Maybe. He'd think on it.

"Just bring those down, we'll leaf through them. I need to add them to my Zanpakuto anyways." He said, walking over in case she needed help getting down.

Quickly skimming through the book she was holding, Aoi wondered what to do with it. She wanted to continue reading it but wasn't sure yet if it would have enough to make it worth her while. Engrossed for a second it took her a minute to respond to Hideki's words on the fullbringers and she looked up with a small 'huh?' sound before it registered. Looking down at the lieutenant she grinned sheepishly "Oh! Sorry, I suppose you are right... But maybe there might be some hidden gems in these. I might have to end up reading them all the way through to find what I need."

His offer to help her made her grin and she closed the book she had open carefully, before stacking a few more on top of it. The stack was taller than her head when she held the bottom book down her torso and with a quick flash step she reappeared on the ground floor. "Would you take a few of these Hideki? I don't want to drop them, they are priceless. Thank you for all your help, you are very kind."

"Ah, it's nothing. Doing my job as a librarian!" he said with a little smile and a faux salute before taking the books. His smile seemed to freeze on his face. Surely, he must be quite happy to have helped. His expression remained pleasant in such a way that nobody of nobody would suspect that these books were far heavier then he had expected. He hoisted them up a bit better. Okay. He could manage this. "Well, there's a lot to leaf through here. If you'd like, I could help you with your research?" He asked, turning to walk out of the aisle.

"It can be hard to find a good place to read. The study rooms are nice. Real zen quality to them. Sometimes they get a little stuffy and if it's a busy time, it can be hard to find an open one. OH and sometimes the academy students come and get all naked in them. I make the fifth seat chase them out. Hate that guy." He turned slightly on one foot to face her, which was just a touch harder now. "There's also what I call my office. It's an old landing up above some of the bookshelves. Gets a bit cool up there sometimes, but there's some nice couches, it's quiet and there's a minifridge full of drinks. It's a bit of a haul though." He gestured upwards towards some bookshelves a distance away. "It's on top of those, but you've got to go up a ladder over there, then walk around, climb DOWN a ladder onto an adjacent bookshelf, THEN climb back up another ladder and walk across a beam to it. It's not too bad. Takes like, fifteen minutes?"

The Lieutenant's sapphire eyes widened as Hideki took almost all the books, leaving her with two very light ones. She had only meant for him to take half and lighten the load for both of them! Would he drop them? Oh no, she better be careful and make sure to be ready to catch them... He didn't look very strong at all, so she prepared herself to help at a moments notice juuust in case. "Uh erm... Yes! That would help me so much. Thank you."

Aoi didn't even have to think too much before accepting this. He was a librarian, he would know better how to find such knowledge or even some tricks of how to. It would take a lot less time with his help for sure. She was running into such nice helpful people all over, maybe this was what normal Shinigami life was like? If so, she was happy she had gotten to leave the school.

Hideki's rambles about the students made Aoi giggle repeatedly, reminding her of the not too far away teaching she had done. "A few times I had to chase students out of the training woods while they tried to have parties. I feel bad for your Fifth Seat if you hate him, it must be hard for him to not have access to such a kind and helpful person."

She beamed at Hideki as he turned around for her before following his gesture up. Oh! Yes, it would be away from others and she could concentrate better. And no annoying students, who she had loved dearly but knew how annoying they could be first hand, to interrupt what little free time she was given. "Yes! I'd like to go there.Here let me take some of those."

Without waiting for Hideki to let her, Aoi reached forward and took slightly more than half the books he was holding with no effort. "I'll take the easy way up, thank you. All those ladders sounds annoying."

Flashing, she appeared a ways up and over from where she had been before looking expectantly over at Hideki. "Come on~ I don't think I could find it entirely on my own."

Hideki wasn't entirely sure how to respond to the comment about him being kind or helpful.  He wasn't always either.  He also would have done some flibbertygibbet thing with himself to hide how bashful the comment made him, but he was sort of stuck carrying a large stack of books, so inevitably, his face just turned red.  "Uh.. Thank you."  He said quietly, before she took half of the books.  "O-Oh.  Thank you!" He said much more enthusiastically, trying NOT to sound so relieved.  He stood up a little straighter, his knees breathing a sigh of relief and praising Aoi as the savior of their beleaguered existence.

"The.. easy way?  What do you-" And then she was up there a ways.  Well... That WAS a neat trick.  One he... could not yet accomplish.  He cleared his throat.  Yes.. the easy way... Okay... so... he could either... go up his normal way, leaving this COMPLETELY NORMAL LOOKING FELLOW OFFICER OF IRRELEVANT GENDER sitting alone up there for a solid ten or so minutes... Or he could... ask this NOT EVEN REMOTELY INTIMIDATING FEMALE PERSON WHO HAS RED HAIR NOT THAT IT EVEN MATTERED to... help him up....  Or he could get creative?

"One sec!"  He scurried off down an aisle, disappearing into the maze of bookshelves.  There was silence.  Maybe a squeaking?  It couldn't be truly known.  Then there was a shout of terror!  A few unseated shinigami would run between the bookshelves, just barely darting into then out of Aoi's view, before she would see what chased them.

It was a shelf ladder, fixed onto wheels for ease of movement.  Its purpose was for people to be able to move the ladder easily and reach the highest row of books on the shelf.

And right now it was careening down the aisle at what could only appropriately described as breakneck speeds.  And just as it neared the shelf that Aoi had flashed her way up to, up ran a figure.  Hideki darted his way up the step ladder, clutching his books, his face a bizarre mix of awareness of how terrifyingly stupid this was, but acting on too stupid of a decision to be properly terrified.  Reaching the top, he flung the books, handily slipped into one of the book totes they kept around for visitors, up onto the shelf before taking a running leap at the shelf himself.  

He hit the shelf at around his midsection, lowering his head so she wouldn't see exactly how much his face contorted when he pushed himself up, before rolling onto his back, atop the bookshelf.  "Ha.. Flash Stepping.." He gave an exhausted wave.  "That's for amateurs."

Somewhere below, the renegade bookladder continued down the hallway, chasing several division ten squad members who ran for their lives.

"Welcome. You really didn't have to take them all the first time. I doubt either of us could have carried them all safely." Aoi's body shook slightly with suppressed laughter, her red curls vibrating slightly as she tried to hide it behind a screen of them when she looked down. This was such a silly shinigami, he seemed so young. Even younger than her? It was possible.

She peered over the bookcase, down at the...seemingly flustered young man. Did she do that to all of them? Her head tilted as her eyebrows drew closer together from slight worry. Maybe she should...tone down...herself? She watched Hideki run off to parts unknown, still rather confused about this. "Okay... I'll wait here...?"

Waiting was never fun and Aoi shifted her stance and the books a few times before she finally heard something other than herself standing there. What was going on!? It sounded like someone was in trouble. Preparing herself for trouble, maybe that was what was keeping Hideki, Aoi's worried state turned into one of mirthful laughter. She was laughing so much at the ridiculous sight of the Lieutenant on the ladder that she had to set her books down as she bent in half to keep laughing.

She didn't even notice as he landed on the shelf, falling to her knees to hold her aching sides and lack of air from laughing so hard not letting her stay up for more than a second. She finally calmed down enough to take huge gulping breaths only to look over at the young man laying there and get set off again. Plopped on her butt for the time being she had to cover her mouth and try to hide her face because she was so ashamed at how much she was laughing.

It just was the most RIDICULOUS THING SHE HAD EVER SEEN. "I-I can't... stop-p...laughing!"

Hideki took a minute to catch his breath before getting up. Slowly that is. "Ugh.. Okay... Maybe I should have... oooh... learned to flash step.." He fell forward a little, putting his hands on his knees to keep himself up. "But hey. This was more fun, right?" He tried to reach for the books, but nearly fell. "Okay... Just gonna give that a minute... Heh.." He looked over at Aoi who was... in the process of having a meltdown. "H-hey.. It's not.. that funny. heh.. heheh.." He felt like he was about to start laughing uncontrollably..

Then he just fell over. Oh god his ribs hurt. He needed to at LEAST be better at jumping... He crawled to his feet and slung the satchel over his shoulder. "It's uh... not much further now... You can keep laughing there.. or are you unable to walk?" He said, teasing a little at how much she was laughing...

and still laughing... Was it THAT bad? He looked down the aisle at the book ladder, which had somehow turned a corner and was still chasing people. Huh. That couldn't be good.

"You could have said something in the first place then, Hideki." Aoi pursed her lips and made a hmphing sound as she finally stopped laughing, her giggles coming to a halt when she wiped away tears.

As Hideki fell over she moved as if to help him up but he seemed to be doing... somewhat all rightish on his own since he was teasing her. Picking up the books, she stood up properly and gave a wink. "I suppose it was more fun though you seem like you're about to fall over or pass out. Do you need a piggyback ride or some rest? I can carry you if you need help~ Since I can obviously stop laughing, but you are still shaking."

She didn't notice any of the screams or the now freed stepladder. Just like when she cooked, anything like that passed her notice.

He looked over. Ahhh, crap. She'd gotten herself composed. He took a few deep breaths before standing up. "Yeah, I'm fine." He actually had pretty solid cardiovascular health. Running was the one thing he was GOOD at, physically. It was cracks to the ribs he was less a fan of. He rubbed his ribs and straightened himself up. Yeah. That would be sore, but worth it. It wasn't too bad though. Probably not even bruised. He had nothing to give but a blank face at her teasing though. At least until he grumbled a little.

"P-Piggyback ride? My legs would hit the ground...." He held out the satchel he had before giving a little smirk. "Here. You take the books, and we'll see who can give who a piggyback ride." Once she'd take them, he'd turn around for her to climb up. Unknown to her, his expression seemed to say something more along the lines of 'WHY DID I SAY THAT'.

"I was just joking, but..." Aoi's eyebrow raised as she did something she rarely did, she smirked right back at Hideki. Maybe she was unsure of other things, but her physical and athletic and fighting abilities were something she took pride in. He had hit all the right buttons to make her a bit competitive, and she had been teaching for longer than he had been alive. She knew injuries or pain when she saw it, it'd been a skill she'd have to learn when silly students overdid their bodies.

He could barely carry the books before! And that was fine, his specialties lay elsewhere. However carrying her and the books would be too much... Still she supposed he needed a lesson. Making sure the books were all securely in the bag and over her shoulder, she climbed onto Hideki's back with a giggle. "Mush Hideki!"

He didn't see the downright evil smirk that spread across Aoife's face. Of course, she had way more experience and... honestly way physically stronger, but Hideki was not without his determination. Thus when his ribs told him, excitedly, to go to hell as she climbed up, he ignored it and the pain eased up. Good. Not too injured. He glanced over his shoulder with a beleaguered smile. "Yes'm!" he said, reaching down to make sure her legs wouldn't be flailing around before heading off at a steady jog.

Okay... This was a terrible plan. Okay.. Easy Hideki. He just needed to.. make it to the study spot. He could manage that as long as he stayed... absolutely focused.

Aoi was a bit impressed with his resolve... Or was it being stupid? She didn't know which, but piggyback rides were fun! She laughed and made sure to hold on tightly, her back pressed up against his to prevent herself from falling off. Deciding a little cheering couldn't hurt, Aoi spoke softly near his ear.

"Go Lieutenant Hideki! You can do it. Go fight win!"

Hideki continued jogging along the pathway. Wasn't terribly far. Okay. It was a little far. No. Focus, Hideki! You're being a good librarian... slash lieutenant...etcetera. Okay. Just... keep moving... don't.. don't pay attention to what's pressed against you. Or... any such and such lieutenant's breath on your ear as she kept cheering him on. NO! FOCUS DAMN IT! He redoubled his efforts, although his jogging became ragged, presenting a bouncier, rougher ride for his piggybacker. "See? I SAID I got better since school..."

"I'm not your teacher anymore! I don't need impressing on things like this. I'm just another shinigami, in fact your equal in terms of rank." Aoi held on tighter, hoping she wouldn't be bounced off onto her butt with how awful he was doing at this. Hideki really was trying way too hard, it was amusing but he'd probably hurt both of them a little by the end.

"You are being very silly you know!"

He slowed to a halt, his breath finally running thin. He leaned forward, her still on his back. She... was actually right.... He was being silly. He groaned. "You're right..." He leaned back a little so she could get off of him. "Oh geez... Why did I do that.." He shook his head. "Right..because I was being silly." Once she got off, he stood up. "Sorry... I mean... my job doesn't frequently involve... a lot more then scurrying about... It's just a little embarrassing, since you were my... do... physical stuff... teacher.."

Aoi quickly got off of Hideki and set the books down, before making sure he was all right. He was breathing hard and obviously very winded, but seemed fine. She fixed her outfit a bit, making sure no extra skin showed before speaking. "Phew, see? I'm sorry for taking you on for that, it was silly of me as well."

She tilted her head and smiled at Hideki, holding out her hand for him to take. "I really understand, I've been working in human world recently too, so I am in the best shape as of now. Its no fair to you, or to me. I bet you can find your way around this library and get information way faster than I can, and probably a ton of other skills I wouldn't even get a chance to find out in one day. Our skill sets are a bit different, but thats fine. Its why we are working in different squads. Mine for death, yours for knowledge."