Doctor Callings and Curry [Open]

Lakshmi nodded and followed Kaimu, being led to a pond nearby. It seemed rather secluded and out of the way and there was no one around at all. Very nice. Moving to the edge of the pond, she bent over and leaned to look in it. She was curious about its depth and wanted to think for a second, though a frog jumping out of the water at her made her fall back. She landed on her butt with a laugh, hitting grass. Much calmer than before, the taicho stood back up to sit next to Kaimu with her legs curled under her. If anyone came by it could look just like two friends or lovers spending time together.

"You don't have to answer anything I ask. But... why did you become a rogue?" Lakshmi turned her head to look at the smiling man. He was always smiling she had noticed.

Just like he thought, that was the question on her mind.

"Well, I didn't kill anyone and run if that's what you're thinking." He started, glancing out at the pond. "My brother, both he and I became shinigami together and for awhile we were happy. He married, had a child...though...as time passed something started happening to him, his mind started to deteriorate in a sense and...he snapped at one point, killed some people...I tried to stop him, I wanted nothing more than to help him. I wanted to get him to regain his senses but the moment there was an opening he was struck down. They thought it better to just kill him rather than restrain him and try to figure out the underlying cause of it all...and I suppose in my despair I ran. I abandoned my post and I've been a rogue ever since."

He ended his words with another small smile, hoping that if he'd upset Lakshimi in anyway his smile might help give her some reassurance.

"That is...terrible." How could Lakshmi not feel like the most terrible person in the world for bringing up such a thing? She had thought he went rogue for a reason that wasn't normal, and well... it was heartbreaking. The Taicho sighed, holding her head in her hands.

"How long have you been running?" She had to ask this, even as she mentally berated herself for her insensitivity. There were many questions she wanted to ask, but for now she'd stick with that one.

"Hmm...A little over three-hundred years? After so long it's hard to keep up, so I can only estimate I'm sorry." He said, he could tell she was upset and his reassurance hadn't really helped much.

He wanted to apologize for his reasoning being such a downer but, he figured that wouldn't really help with anything.

"That is a rather long time, don't apologize." She was surprised he had been running for that long, and Lakshmi couldn't help pulling her head out of her hands to stare at Kaimu. Something like...amazement was on her features and she frowned. More questions bubbled up, and before she could stifle them all a few slipped out.

"How do you deal living outside like this? Don't you get lonesome? What about other residents noticing your long life and slow aging? Oops." She covered her mouth again, flushing slightly.

When she ended up asking multiple questions, much like she had when they were eating, Kaimu couldn't help but give a small laugh.

"I don't mind sleeping outdoors, and sometimes people will offer to let me stay for the night at their places if I'd helped them. I'm sociable and I talk with lots of people, plus I have Kuro-tan~!"

'You shut your god damn mouth.'

"As for the aging thing, I travel a lot so my interactions with others are brief...no one really sees or notices it."

The man seemed happier now, but Lakshmi still couldn't shake her melancholy about the story. She remembered her long travel to reach the Soul Society... Neither of which helped her mood, despite the nice laugh. Trying to smile though, she pulled her hands down to her lap as she played with a bit of her long hair. "You sleep outside? How do you deal in winter? What about rainy nights?"

"Is Kuro-tan your zanpakuto? So it keeps you company a lot? It still sounds...lonely having no long term friends or others by your side. Even as you say that." Lakshmi decided to let her questions flow free, though she felt... odd about her interrogation. "Ah, you must be getting annoyed with the inquisition I am putting you under Kaimu. Oh! Should I call you Kaimu-kun? Oh dear more questions just spill out everytime..."

"There's usually always abandoned buildings around, so those are helpful during times like those. Most  tend to have reasons for being abandoned such as holes and such but it's still better than being completely outdoors."

'Company my ass...'

"Mhmm, Kuroshi is my zanpakutou. Though he's not exactly friendly eheh...Still it's better than nothing." He replied, he wasn't speaking ill of his zanpakutou but simply speaking the truth. They respected one another's strengths, but that didn't necessarily mean they liked one another. "As for long term friends, I suppose I can count Norma-tan..."

"It's fine, I'm fine with answering your questions." He added, "they don't bother me."

"Kaimu... Thats..." He just spoke all of that in a cheerful tone. Lakshmi was both amazed and more than a little distraught at his words. She was frustrated with such a man. At his next words, the normally rather calm and gentle Taicho ran her hands through her hair and raised her voice slightly. She looked rather upset, though more for Kaimu's sake than anything else.

Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke, her accent coming to the forefront. She was obviously someone who learned japanese secondhand. How though? "That is not a safe or healthy way to live! With only a spirit for company, one you don't even care for that much. And only Taicho Norma... This isn't right. Not for you or anyone. Bothering bollocks!"

Her energy manifested in the way she stood up, tearing her kimono from the rough movements. Glaring at it, she moved her legs so the rest tore and she could properly pace. After a few seconds, she reached into her generous chest and pulled out a purse. It was full and she tossed it near Kaimu. "You shall take that, I won't accept anything else!"

"A-Ah, I really. Lak-tan you don't need to do this." He said, "I'm fine with the way I live, you don't need to go out of your way and give me this. Plus you just tore your clothes up!"

'She's offering it, moron. Take it.'

'It's not right'

'Fuck what's 'right' you shithead.'

This was a life he'd adjusted to, the life of a rogue, it was the price for running and he'd grown accustomed to it over time. He felt bad, she said she wouldn't accept him not accepting the purse but...it wasn't something he'd earned. All he'd done was give her his sob-story and that was it.

'Take the pity and deal with it.'

'Shut up.'

"Its not out of my way you...ridiculous man. I have more money than I know what to do with and I give most of it away to the clinics I open. If I can't even give you some help in your need..." Lakshmi wanted to pull her hair out, this man was frustrating. What were clothes to a warm house? Warm meals? Simple happy things like that. Many didn't have it... and if she could help him a bit what was such silly little things?

"Blasted restricting things!" Looking at her clothes, she bent down and tore the bottom part off at the knee, her chain retracting up her bare legs as she did so. Then moving to her knees in front of the man, her icy eyes blazed. "I wish to give you this and if you leave this purse here I will be upset!"

He couldn't exactly do much more than use it for food and inns, as a rogue traveling was more of a necessity that he'd eventually learned to enjoy and not just a simply hobby. Still, he felt bad not having earned it.

"I...I think I'd feel better accepting it if I did more to earn it." Kaimu tried to explain, "I understand your using it to help people, and that you may have plenty, but I feel it's wrong to accept it when I don't believe I've done anything more than give you my sob-story."

He was voicing his thoughts, not knowing any other way to put it. He would accept it, but only if he could do something in return to earn it...do a job or something just anything rather than making it seem like it was for nothing.

Lakshmi groaned and slapped her hands to her face. This was like pulling your own tooth with no numbing agent. "Kaimu... I don't think there is anything you can do for me. What sort of job could you do for me out here? Everything is in the seireitei. Its not your... I just want to help. And if I can help... You are letting me feel like I can actually do something to improve someone's life. Even if it doesn't do anything, it gives me that teeny bit of hope."

"Isn't that worth accepting the money?" Leaning forward more, she grasped both her hands in his with a small smile. "Everyone has sob stories, does that make them any less worthy of taking my money? If you can think of a way to work for it, go right ahead. But I do not have any ideas."

He lacked ideas as well, but with much reluctance he supposed she had a point. What could he do for her out here. All the work was in the Seireitei, forbidden ground to him.

"Alright, alright. I'll accept it." He said, his tone soft.

'About time...'

"Good!...Oh Bother I lost my temper again." Lakshmi let go of Kaimu's hands like hot irons and backed away, feeling...drained and sheepish. She sat on her legs, turning to the side and brushing her hair behind her ear. It gave her something to do with her hands, as she tried to ignore them.

Maybe... an idea came to Lakshmi, one Kaimu might accept. Smiling shyly, she looked down and spoke almost at a whisper. "...You said you'd watch out for Yuzuki. Think of that as bodyguard payments for the little troublemaker. Would that help you?"

He thought for a moment, he had promised to watch out for Yuzuki so it could count as a 'job' of sorts; which did make him feel better about taking the money. He could live with that.

"Alright, I'll see that as my job then." He answered, smiling.

"You accept it? That is wonderful! I wouldn't have wanted to try and figure out some other reason." Lakshmi blushed brightly, for some reason her mind coming up with rather awful ones she would never even suggest or accept. She pushed them away quickly, looking down at the grass below her.

"I did ask so many questions... but I can't ask more without allowing you a chance to ask. If there anything you wish me to answer, I will try my best. You've been gone three hundred years, a lot has changed in that time."

Did he want to know anything? It was true he'd been gone from the Seireitei for a long time, but was there anything important that he'd wanted to keep up on? He thought for a moment, trying to think.

"I guess a lot probably has changed, hmm, though I'm having trouble thinking of questions to ask..." He replied. Perhaps due to how long it had been, he just didn't quite know where to start.

"That is perfectly fine. You really don't have to, I just offered in case. So Taicho Norma also knows about your status and you? I admit I know her very...little. We don't exactly get along most of the time." Lakshmi let out a small sigh.

"I feel bad for my continued rambles. Are you sure there aren't any injuries or even a slight cold you might be catching I can help with? You could have just kept the money for having to put up with all my curiosity."

Kaimu gave a chuckle, "I've known Norma-tan for a long time now, she knows about me being a rogue, but she's kind to me. I know she recently left retirement and went back to being a captain again, before that I'd sometimes run into her in little eating establishments and sit down and talk."

"I'm perfectly fine, I haven't gotten sick in a long time now!" He said, a little proudly. "The most I've ever suffered from is slight dehydration or hunger but that's easily fixable. As for your curiosity, it's fine. It's not every day you run into a non hostile rogue." He laughed.

"I... don't have much contact with her. So I don't know her well... But the assumptions I had don't match that of her actions. I guess I was really wrong about her then." What little Lakshmmi knew was gleamed from her grandmother and others, and the few interactions they'd had over the years. Norma wasn't an entirely social person, and neither was Lakshmi. Plus whatever tiny circles they had didn't overlap, other than Setsuna.

Lakshmi sighed and smiled, leaning forward and clasping her hands together and bowing her head. It didn't last more than a second though as she opened one eye, looking hopeful. "Please at least let me run a check? I could find anything you won't notice and might become much larger later. For example a sexually transmitted disease or other such hidden dangers... You are handsome, I can't see you staying celibate for three hundred years. And you are kind as well... One more little favor for me?"

A check? He felt fine but since she was a doctor he guessed he could see where she was coming from. Though the talk of diseases did irk him a bit, but that didn't show in his expression. While she was correct in the fact that he'd given into his urges every now and then, whether he was the one the come on to the other person or not, he was careful.

"I...I guess?" Kaimu responded. "Though I can assure you I always make sure to keep my health a high priority."

"Well, thank you for humoring me. I am sorry if it seems pushy its just... I am a doctor, its my nature to make sure you are at least fine... Oh bother." Lakshmi finally flushed enough to show on her skin as she moved so she was leaning a bit over Kaimu, embarrassed by how close he was and how close she had to be to do this check. Closing her eyes helped as her hand gently settled on his chest.

"This may...tingle." She took a deep breath and small wires of her spiritual energy, an icy blue, spread out from her hand. It covered his body and went through it, checking for any abnormalities or things not supposed to be there. It took a minute, before the energy absorbed into his body, glowing slightly for a second. Kaimu would feel a burst of energy as she did so, while Lakshmi fell forward and murmured. "Oh dear, I really...over did it today... too many surgeries..."

As the energy engulfed him he did feel a slight tingle, but it wasn't anything that bothered him; just one of those feelings you knew was coming but could do nothing to prevent the reaction to. Still, he was aware enough throughout her check that when she fell forward his arms moved to just below her shoulders to brace her, to make sure she wouldn't fall from him to the ground where she could possibly hurt herself.

She was over exhausting her energy, from all the procedures she'd done today likely overlapping with her usual agenda of work had worn her out, which was understandable.

"You should save your energy then. It won't do you any good to exhaust yourself now and not have enough strength to ensure a safe return when you start to head back to the Seireitei." His voice was calm, a bit soft, as he made sure he didn't come across as harsh for his words. She was a captain, but that didn't mean they were invincible.

"There's places I could stay if I really needed to. I've had to...more than I want to admit. There's too many out here with problems only spiritual energy can fix. And besides, I've learned a lot and gotten stronger from draining my energy this much." Lakshmi gave a tired smile, but didn't move. She just didn't have the energy and just felt drained. She realized it was a bit of a lecture, coming from him.

"I needed to make sure for myself you would be fine. Its a flaw I admit, needing to do everything myself."