Researching the Past!

He looked up at her hand, considering waving it away and getting up by himself... buut... he had had enough machismo grandstanding for one day. He happily accepted the help getting up. "Yeah.. I don't think I'm holding you at fault for accepting an offered piggyback ride. I don't think anybody can be blamed for that." He said with an embarrassed smile. He used her help and got to his feet, dusting the knees of his pants off.

"Well, you know how it is. When you want to impress people, your first reaction is to show competency in skillsets they're good at. So.... yeah.." He gave her a warm smile. It was surprising to see this kind of understanding from another shinigami. "I think usually Division Ten is considered... less talented then other divisions since we aren't medics and we don't really have a lot of combat duties. Even the academy has to be good at the stuff to teach others." He said, gesturing over her before adding an "Obviously." He gave an odd little twist of his mouth at that last bit she said though. He did that sometimes when he was thinking. "What do you mean your skillset is death?"

"That is true! I haven't had one in a while, it was fun while it lasted. Hm... maybe I should ask for them sometimes..." Aoi thought about Rin for a brief moment, having been too distracted to be worrying about that. She had work to do to help him and others if she met them, this was her duty and privilege to do. Renewed purpose struck her, while she nodded to Hideki's comments.

"I really understand that, but everyone's talents amaze me. Like those who can bake wonderful treats that look pretty and taste so good! Who came up with that? Why and how? You know, those are much more impressive than the ability to stab things." Aoi's eyes lit up, almost shining a bright blue as she spoke. "And people who write stories that others get lost in! Or making places like libraries a happy environment or those who can sort well. Those are all useful in their own way and shouldn't be put down. When it comes down to it, killing is... easier than actually doing something that makes things better for others."

Aoi booped Hideki's nose. "So don't feel bad about it. Those people are stupid and mean. You love it here yes?"

Her eyes dimmed though and she bent over to pick up the books. "I mostly know how to kill, where the quickest, easier ways to the most painful and slowest. Being a shinigami hasn't changed or altered that knowledge, just improved parts of it. Its still in here and won't go away anytime soon." She tapped her head and gave a small smile.

"Well... I'd be happy to offer my services is a transport any time... although next time..." he pushed on his back in an attempt to crack it. "Maybe without all the heavy books that I think weigh about twice what you do." He groaned as he straightened his back out, with an audible noise. He glanced over. Hrm.. He wasn't really a baker himself... Well, he made some good noodles... like... okay anyway. He needed a microwave. Oh man... He could totally hide candy and stuff in his book.. why had he never thought of that? Why would he not ALWAYS have snacks on hand? Ants can't get into a magic book. That's stupid. Hideki, you are BRILLIANT.

His face turned a little red as she went on about other useful skills, some of which seemed to be complimenting him. "I..." He shook his head and batted at her finger following the boop. "Yeah... I love it a lot. Especially when something great happens, like today." He smiled, although it faded when she continued about killing. Hrm. So she knew how to kill before she was a Shinigami, hm? His first thought was to pry about that... but... prying bad, Hideki.. Come on. He helped pick up one or two books and gestured towards a little alcove back behind some old shelves up ahead. "It's just up there. I have some soda and stuff in the little fridge there. We can sit down, pour through these and..." He paused.

"What sort of information exactly ARE you combing through these for? If you need all these books, I feel like it's more then just general knowledge..."

"Oh! I wasn't... Whoops." Aoi was startled, she hadn't meant Hideki offer himself like that for more piggybacks. It probably wasn't good to ride around on another person's back that much when...you were caring about another? What did she know about this sort of weird stuff... She flushed a bit, shaking her head and focusing instead on the books. She hefted the bag and shook her head. "Nah, these are about half me?"

"So what did you do today that was so awesome then?" Truly interested, Aoi moved the bag so she could finish the last leg of this trip with ease. It wasn't heavy, just bulky and had banged up her back a bit on the piggyback ride here. She had to take up the offer of food though, and agreed with obvious excitement. "Yes! I would appreciate that a lot."

They were almost there as Hideki asked his question and she flushed a bright red. "Erm, if you wait... till we are in there I can tell you a bit more? I'm not sure if I'd get in trouble for this or not."

He laughed and shook his head. "I dunno.. I consider myself pretty good about these sorts of details... I think the books are heavier then you." He said with a playful smirk. He had to admit it was a little fun to watch the other lieutenant blush. His smirk grew into a full smile when she asked what was so awesome about his day. He looked down, a little embarrassed. "Well.. It's not every day I get to spend so much of my time helping a cute lieutenant." He said, his face turning a little red as he looked away, unable to look directly at her as he said it. He decided now was a good time to get up and carry the rest of the books the rest of the way to the study spot.

Nestled up on an old floor section from when shelves were up this high, the study section had a ring of little couches, a chair or two. There was also an old electrical box that the fridge was plugged into. He placed some of the books down on the table and plopped down on one of the smaller couches. "Okay... So tell me, what's up?

"I suppose they are more dense so that could make up for it? Maybe..." Okay so this was a conundrum. He had felt her weight so he could somewhat accurately guess how much she was vs the books. She was trusting his judgement and wondered if she was losing her grip in judging weights.

When Hideki looked down though, Aoi was confused and curious. His words stopped her a bit... cold though and she turned slightly red. Oh, oh no. That wasn't good. He thought she was CUTE! and was doing the Rin thing. Oh no. Well it had been fun and she was having a good time too so? "Hehe, it has been fun! So I am glad I could provide you with amusement!"

Setting the satchel down next to the table, Aoi took a seat on a couch opposite Hideko, with a good view of the only entrance or exit. She looked... very worried and picked up a book. "I could... I don't even know, get in trouble? For this. I'm researching Fullbringers for a Fullbringer I met in the human world. His name's Rin and... Well... I may..really like him? Are shinigami allowed to fraternize with them like that? Aaah its so confusing and scary!"

Aoi's face turned beat red and she opened the cover of the book she had grabbed. Something, anything to do with her hands was good.

He almost winced at her reaction. Hideki wasn't an expert on romance by any means but uh... THAT was not an interested reaction. He pursed his lips. Way to go Hideki. Made THIS whole fun thing awkward. Okay, just don't bring it up again. This can go pretty fun still. He blushed and looked at his feet... That is... until she started talking. He shook his head a little, as if snapping out of something. Oh.. Oh oh oh OHHH. That.. made SO much more sense... and it.. allowed him to at least feel a LITTLE less awkward about this.

He frowned as he listened. Wait.. allowed to. He looked up. "Uh..." He gave her a look like she had done something silly. If she were in range, he might have given her a little bap on the head. "Of course? I mean... people might think it's odd since apparently we age many times slower then humans... but Fullbringers aren't enemies of the Seireitei so... nah, there's no rules against it." He said, reaching over to the fridge. He pulled out can of some human soft drink, as if he didn't know them all from literally six years ago, before tossing her one as well. "And I thought I was the silly one. He knows you like him, right?" He asked, popping the can open and taking a sip. He was more then happy to slip from flirty mode to helpful mode.

"Huh. I would think there would be, its always 'make sure the humans are taken care of' this and such. But...that does make a bit of sense." Her face shined with relief and she sighed, a huge burden off of her shoulders. Not only was it okay but... well as long as she wouldn't get in trouble? Aoi still would keep it to herself, thinking maybe she might get some...weird talkings to about it. "Thank you Hideki."

Taking the drink, Aoi opened it and took a sip. It tasted deliciously sweet and satisfied her sweet tooth immediately. She almost spluttered it out all over the book of course at the question she was asked though. Her hands waving in the air, she almost spilled the drink again. "Yes! He knows... he likes me too... We kissed... a bit. I'm not some weird stalker in his bedroom at night..."

"Yeah, but ... That's more of a maintaining secrecy and balance thing.. fullbringers are spiritually aware and they're humans, but they're really useful against hollows and stuff, I think. Point is, it's silly to try and keep things secret from them and as a whole they're not against Soul Society so... yeah, there's no problem with dating one." He said before giving a dismissive wave. "Ahh, it's nothing, silly." He took another sip of his soda.

He couldn't help but laugh a little at her spit take. "Hehe.. I dunno, he might not mind waking up to find his girlfriend in his bedroom." He teased, sticking his tongue out a little.

"Oh good. I was so worried, this is a relief." Aoi sighed, one throwing knife escaped by a hair, and then she took a big gulp of the soda. Well now she just needed to make it through her work period in human world without hassle! Then she'd be all set in life...

However Hideki's words made Aoi flushed and shake her head vigorously. Aaah! No bad Aoi you have a soda and there are books! She calmed herself long enough to speak, still rather red. Rin was going to be the end of her, this was for sure. At least the end of her professional abilities! "Erm we aren't...going...out or anything! But... are you sure he'd like that?"

Oh no she had come here to learn about fullbringers and was instead getting relationship advice...

"I bet... I can imagine not being sure if it was treason or not to date the guy you like would be a stressor." He laughed and took a sip of soda. "Is there even anything else you want to learn about Fullbringers, or was that the long and short of it?" He scratched his head. He had to admit, this sure was an elaborate set up to find out that one piece of information. He would have just asked somebody. Oh well~

His smile turned into a smirk though as she got so worked up over it. He had to think for a second though... He had just been saying it off hand, but... well.. wouldn't he like it? After all, Aoife was.. uh... His face turned slightly red as he moved on with his thoughts. Sure, Hideki might feel uncomfortable with a girl he wasn't dating but... most guys were different, right? "Uh... Well.. I mean... Yeah... Most guys would LOVE that... Their special lady shows up unexpectedly, maybe wearing something enticing? Comes over to them and makes their intentions known?" He nodded. He was so sagacious, he felt like he should have a pipe. "I'm pretty sure any guy would LOVE that."

"No actually, I was hoping to learn about their techniques like I said before. He really... has no idea about anything. I was hoping to learn as much as I can to help him better protect himself and maybe give him more of an idea of what he is?" Aoi ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of the way before flipping open the book. "It has to be scary, fighting alone out there with no idea what you were until some weird girl shows up and basically plops it all down in your lap. No idea where those monsters came from or anything... So I'll find out as much as I can since I have the resources and ability to. If I could copy these... well first I'd need to know if they are useful or not huh?"

"And thats...why I need your help. I don't know how to sift through these and find out pertinent information, or even... any that would be helpful. Do they have something like we do with flashstep? What are the issues involved with their powers? Do they die normally or what?" She listed off some of her questions but turned to look at Hideki as he spoke with utter curiosity.

"So... you really think he'd like that? He normally turns red even when we kiss... But... if you say so. You would know more than me, Hideki. Thank you, hehe."

He stared blankly as she listed all the information she was looking for. Wow... She really wanted to help this guy. He smiled. Aww.. It was sweet. It tarnished his smile just a little to remember that he'd flirted with her. Felt.. kind of like a dick now... But hey, he didn't know, right? "Okay...well.. .how about this." He said, putting his glasses on and pulling out his zanpakuto. He picked up one of the books and held it with both hands, tilting it a little and then flipping through it with his thumb, just sort of flipping through the book. While he did this, Aoi would notice that his zanpakuto's pages were flipping with equal speed. It took only a moment or two before he put the book down towards her.

"Here. I'll copy them to my zanpakuto, so you can read those. We can cover more ground that way." He said, before proceeding to scan in each of the books, handing the originals to her. "We'll find out plenty about Fullbringers for your boy..." he said before glancing up, adjusting his glasses. "Uhh.." he blinked once or twice. Had she not looked in a mirror recently? Who wouldn't? "Well... if he gets shy... maybe just... make the moves for him? I mean... once he's done it once, he should be less nervous, right?"

"Hm?" Aoi leaned forward as she stared in obvious awe, her hands clapping a bit at how amazing it was to her. He could have tons of information at the touch of a hand, right there and waiting, and could absorb information at unheard of speed. Her eyes sparkled with obvious interest. "That is so amazing! Thank you thank you thank you!"

She had opened the first book he had copied and was reading it a bit intently, trying to figure out what this journal was trying to say... Seemed like an observation journal? It was standard issue for members from her Division to write down all they saw in report form but maybe they did journals too? Her head popped up from the book after a second though, curious about Hideki's advice. "I suppose... He'd have to get over seeing me naked first. He has some weird problem with that."

He glanced up, noting her vested interest in his book. Huh. It always was nice when someone thought it as neat. "Um.. Thank you." He said with a smile, picking it up. "It's pretty neat. You can scan anything into it and it will store the information in here. Books, objects, Zanpakutos, people. You name it." He adjusted hsi glasses a little, before continuing to scan the books. When he finished, he placed the last of the books over on her side before picking his zanpakuto up and getting comfy on the couch.

He was right in the middle of taking a sip of soda, however, when she mentioned the nudity thing and choked, spitting some of it out. "He's.. Er.. I mean.. He ... has a problem? With that?" He was too busy choking to really blush, but he wasn't sure how anyone she was dating would be... nonplussed by the concept... Maybe he was overestimating their involvement? He HAD sort of just assumed that if she was talking about this, it was pretty serious...

"Welcome! You can scan people too though? Can you scan me?" Aoi was curious what it would say about her and looked up from her reading. It was a bit dry so far, just a general information that was available at the squad. Nothing too specific yet but the person had made friends so maybe she'd find out a bit more as she read...

Oh, poor Hideki. She did that to people huh? His question was odd and she looked a bit worried and nodded. "Um... not a problem... but he freezes up? Whenever I am naked... Or kiss him too much. He's really shy apparently."

She shrugged. It wasn't like she was used to anything with relationships. Hideki would know more than her on this stuff, so maybe if she explained.

"Yeah, I can totally scan people!" He might have thought better then to scan the rather unavailable girl he'd been flirting with, but he did so ever love showing off his zanpakuto. He adjusted his glasses and looked her over, letting them scan her. In the meantime, he cleared his throat. "O-Oh.. He's uh.." seen her naked. Okay, Hideki. Just stop prying. "Well... obviously he just.. likes you a LOT.." Or he's gay... Hrm.. should he suggest her guy was gay? No, that'd be mean. "He either needs to be broken out of his mold by force or just needs a lot of time to adjust." He said with a shrug as his zanpakuto finished.

"Hey! Here we go!" He looked down at his book. "Let's see... Height, weight.. "he mumbled something that might have been 'measurements'. "Uh....." He paused and frowned, looking up at her and adjusting his glasses again. "Well that's... unusual..." he looked back down at the book, glancing it over, turning it upside down, shaking it. "Aoi.. You... You haven't been attacked by a hollow very recently, have you?"

"Oh... Well, I suppose I could try that way first and see if it works and then try time? Thats a good idea! How about force...plus time? Hold him till it gets better? Yes... Good plan. Thank you Hideki!" Aoi grinned rather brightly, very very pleased with these developments. She got information AND advice on how to woo Rin. Today was the best!

As Rin spoke though, she was curious and moved from her couch to his so she could look over at the book herself. She didn't catch a glimpse before the man spoke about something...unusual. A sudden quickening of her heart and her eyes narrowed a bit. "Um... well I have been fighting them but none got a hit on me. Is there any...reason why? Whats unusual?"

He sighed and shook his head. It sounded like whoever this fullbringer boyfriend of hers was in for a rough time.. or a good time? Whichever. There was something more pressing at hand. He got up and quickly walked around the table, sitting on the edge of the couch next to her so she could see his zanpakuto clearly. He cleared his throat. "Okay, here's the profile that my scan made up." He said, showing her the page. It had a neat photo-realistic sketch of Aoi, with little boxes of information like her height, weight and so on. There were a lot of blank spaces where information had to be filled in, like her name, her personality, so on and so forth.

"Now... There's a little note here." He said, gesturing to the corner of her picture, with a little exclamation. "Which tells me to check the reverse side of this page." He said before turning it over. This page was even more blank then the other, with the only thing filled in being a pretty colored sphere drawn on the reverse spot of her portrait. Most of it was colored in a pretty blue. The exact shade of blue of Aoi's reiatsu, as she would know. However.. Hideki gestured to the middle of the sphere. "The thing is... there's this black stuff on well... Well, this is basically the physical representation of your spiritual energy.. So there's um... maybe some hollow... in your soul.." He coughed. "Uh... which.. is alarming?"

The picture was amazing! It even had her body measurements too... She had wondered what those were, though the height didn't surprise her, but the others were amusing to notice. Her chest wasn't the largest, but her hips were definitely nice sized for her size and the numbers showed. Aoi noticed the blank spots, wondering what he'd put in for that. "Oh, I see. So it even tells you when to check more pages... Thats..."

"U-Uh...." Her words cut off as she took in the blue sphere with the tiny bits of black in it... Alarming didn't begin to cover this. Aoi started shaking, wondering what she should do, where she should go to see what was wrong... Her blue eyes darkened as she felt a pulse...deep in her chest. It almost hurt, this pressure. She felt like Hideki could see it too, as she looked down at herself and her hand came up to clutch where her heart should be. Her body from its core was...pulsing. A wave outward?

As she looked up at Hideki, one of her eyes went black and her pupil turned yellow. It looked at Hideki calmly, while her blue eye seemed to focus on nothing, her hand falling away from her chest. "Your ability is dangerous boy."

Hideki paused, letting his book shut as something seemed to be wrong with her. He had a feeling this wasn't about her measurements... He placed the book down, but kept a hand on it, pursing his lips as she clutched her chest. Something was wrong.. Something was...Pulsing from her? Instead of trying to figure out just by guessing, he realized he had a much better answer... He opened his book, flipping it immediately open to Aoi's profile before looking at her, scanning her again. He flipped her page over and... crap... that black spot was spreading. What was going on.. Was she possessed? He was still looking at the book when he heard the voice behind him and froze.

She sounded different. If he hadn't just looked at the page, he might wonder why. He turned slowly, keeping his hand on the open page. He kept himself from reacting when he saw her eye, but if she was sharp enough, she would be able to tell. His body tightened, his breathing became just a little quicker, his fingers twitched just a little. "Not half as dangerous as I assume you must be... Who are you?" It was a stupid question, but he couldn't stop from asking it. If it wasn't someone's safety at risk, he would be SO damned curious about this...

The black spread across both eyes though as of yet no mask started forming, and using the years of Aoi's experience with such things... as well as predators instincts, it noticed the tenseness of the boy sitting there. If he tried to flee... Hands trained to kill, unpracticed in years yes, but they never forgot how to snuff life or cause pain. He was tiny. Wouldn't take much to force him to yield, killing him would be too much work.

At the same time... It was only thinking these as a last resort. It chuckled slightly, definitely not an Aoi laugh. "I am Aoi. We merged long ago, I have no other form or name even before that time."

"A better question is what, book boy."

He kept both eyes on her, staring, his body tense. Why had he gotten so close to her? He should have immediately gotten some distance when he realized what was wrong... Hrm... Maybe it wouldn't have mattered. She could flash step... Still, it would have meant she couldn't kill him silently up here in this little alcove... Was the other Aoi even real? No.. Couldn't let his imagination run wild. There was a lot of non-hollow reiatsu there... And whatever it is, it still referred to itself as we....

"I already know what... A hollow... By your own statement, merged with a shinigami..." And it had said before that time... A hollow that merged with a shinigami that had no existence before the shinigami? His mind wracked itself with that for a second before his eyes widened... He reached up with his free hand, adjusting his glasses. "If you didn't exist before and you're part of Aoi now... You must have come from within her soul somehow..." He pursed his lips. "Really, it's irrelevant... What you are isn't what I'm worried about so much as... Is Ao..." He cut himself off. "Is the... other.. you... okay?"

"Hah, you aren't stupid after all book boy." The normally kind eyes had a hint of... something else in it. Not exactly anger or rage, but a sort of unhinged look though the words that came out of the mouth were calm. The boy wasn't fleeing, instead was calmly talking. He could have called for help by now... Maybe there was no danger. At his worry about Aoi though, the body that was Aoi's relaxed visibly. Ah... so. That was how it was.

"She will never be in danger from me." The voice was soft, and spoke almost...lovingly. The yellow eyes bored into Hideki's almost like it was trying to impart something to him. "She gave me a home here in her soul, and I helped her heal and become what she could have been. I protect her, my other half."

Book Boy? "Book boy?" He echoed his thoughts, face a little blank. He didn't know whether to be offended or complimented. He settled on NOT DISTRACTED for now and focused again. He noticed her relax.. Hrm.. Now was... maybe? No.. If it was relaxing, it either meant... well... It just meant he wasn't a threat to her... WHY was the question, however.. He couldn't help but give a dubious glare as she.. it.. whatever, continued to speak. Well... So it really was merged with her... And it had helped her some how? Other half... It couldn't be... He adjusted his glasses again, out of habit. Her eyes were sharp enough to notice the change in his expression. He was equally as focused, but now there was something else... almost excited...

"Symbiosis with a hollow...It sounds... far fetched..." he said, though his tone wasn't one of disbelief. No, he believed it... The portrait of her soul suddenly made sense... The hollow bits in her soul weren't just inside of there... they were filling up the missing pieces... He opened his mouth, his next question being what its aim was, but... That was also a silly question... It had shown up immediately when asked about and was immediately aware of the situation. Aoi... the other Aoi, had no idea what he'd been talking about... the immediate implication was that this hollow was aware at all times... The way it had come out and immediately confronted him... It was responding to being found out. So its means was survival.. Why not just kill him? Why...

"Wait... Become what she could have been... Aoi only became Lieutenant recently... And she hadn't recalled any recent incident with a hollow... Which means you've been there since before she became an officer.... Which means... You infiltrated Soul Society as some form of ill intent, or...Wait, that doesn't make sense.. Your position here is in Squad 5, your actual responsibility is to hunt other hollows... No hollow would turn on its own kind for the Shinigami's sake unless it was... being...forced.." His eyes widened again... "And if you WERE trying to infiltrate Soul Society... You would have killed me the first moment I found you out... So... Who else knows about you?"