Revenge of the Doge

"Wha-What!? I mean for future...hundred of years! Or something. I am thinking ahead." Yuzuki rubbed her forehead, staring at Hideki in shock. What was WRONG with him!? He was overreacting severely over something silly and that could happen? It wasn't as if she was the last bastion of knowledge on this thing. Most in her family knew of it and there were a bunch of them.

"I did not realize what I was agreeing to, at that time. Unfortunately they went wild with my noncommital response as it hadn't been NO." Glad of his moving back, she looked out and away as he apologized for that stupid event that had led them to meet. His comments about them looking nice made her flush and she growled out a response. "I do not care how nice they look! You should have never seen them you stupid commoner!"

"And no! It would be! Its our familys treasure and I respect their wishes to keep it hidden." Yuzuki was full tsun again, her previous statements retracted as she grumbled at Hideki for his words. "You dare not find out about it!"

He blushed and frowned. "S-sorry. Just... for it to be lost, it would have to include something happening to you and... I dunno... I don't like thinking about something bad happening to my friends." He voluntarily danced around terms like 'care about' or 'like'. Still, he was being silly. He winced when her voice suddenly switched to tsun mode.

"Yeesh! Don't yell at me! I was just doing my job," He took a few steps away before looking back over his shoulder, "or are you saying you wish I HADN'T found you that day? I think an awkward first meeting is worth a good friendship, don't you?" Bleh, why could he not seem to keep himself from saying stupid things today.

"And fiine. I won't dishonor your family's secret." He turned and rested against a wall, arms crossed. "Just as long as you know I COULD find it out, easy enough."

"...You really are ridiculous. How am I suppose to deal with such sweetly stupid words?" Yuzuki sighed, her eyes rolling as she tried to figure out how to say something to make the captain stop being so mushy about things. They were all going to die one day, it was best to preserve knowledge when you could.

"Well if you wouldn't say such stupid things about dying and such in the first place, I wouldn't be inclined to yell at you for even stupider things! I am happy I was found but NOT happy you had to see me like that." She growled, pointing at Hideki more. "I suppose it might be if that meeting hadn't included me naked! Its unfair!"

"Now you are just a braggart. Throwing around your powers like that. Hmph!" Stomping past him, Yuzuki went around a bend and continued on, her white hair bouncing with every grumpy step.

"What can I say. I aim to surprise." It seemed her shouting did nothing but encourage his silliness. "And did I hear you slip in that I'm sweet somewhere in there?" He chuckled and followed Yuzuki along, keeping a respectful distance behind her. Hideki had only died recently and... while he couldn't say it had exactly turned out terrible for him... He had been able to see the effect it had on others.. He still wasn't sure what to think about that.

He was enjoying her latest tirade when he paused, his steps audibly slowing. "Unfair? How is it unfair? You made me strip to my underwear. Are you implying I should have had to go further than that?" He preemptively took a step back, prepared for her to spin and launch a shouting rampage.

Hideki's smart aleck reply earned nothing less than a snort, her eyes looking at the walls ahead of them instead of the idiotic captain who kept making quips and laughing at her. Yuzuki's arms crossed, her body language just as frustrated as her tone... Which quickly devolved into much worse.

"N-NO! I would not want that! At all! I would not want your pants off! Not even to see those stupidly ridiculous and NOT IRONIC underwear again!" Yuzuki flipped around as predicted, though her momentum carried her to the ground as she landed on her butt. She stuttered and pointed at Hideki, unable to form another reply to his statements after. T-The nerve to imply that!

Oooo-kay. Time to easy back. He sighed and walked over to her, before reaching a hand out, pulling it back just a little thinking she might try to hit him. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I was teasing too much. Are you okay?" He asked with a concerned frown. "I know you have no interest in seeing me in ANY state of undress, I was just being funny. C'mon, part of being friends is that you can joke with one another." Not that he particularly expected her to take that lesson to heart. Really, he was expecting a snort and some sort of speech about how he was a commoner. But it was true and while he liked seeing her in tsun mode, he tried to avoid crossing the thin line into actually upsetting her.

"C'mon, this labyrinth can't be too much longer." He actually knew the exit wasn't very far from where they were. Hopefully what was at the end would cheer her up.

Yuzuki looked at the hand and almost took it before Hideki pulled it back. Her eyes narrowed and she glanced to the side as she helped herself back up. Her hands went out to brush dirt from her body, reaching around behind her to get it all off of her butt. There would probably be stains... Oh well.

"I am perfectly fine, thank you." She...felt a bit bad for her words, especially since he had been teasing. But that earlier confession still had her on edge. "I suppose you have a point. Still, I was scarred for the rest of my existence by those awful underwear. How did you find them? Look up tackiest underwear and then go for the worst you could find?"

She was trying the teasing thing, even if it came out a bit harsh. At his words about the labyrinth being not much longer, her expression brightened and she nabbed one of his hands to pull him along. "Come on then! Enough about your tacky fashion choices, lets get moving!"

His heart sunk when she reached for his hand just as he pulled it back before she dropped it. He suddenly felt awful for that small movement. His stature sunk, but he stood up when she did. "Y-you're welcome.. and... I'm sorry... I hope your nice adventure outfit didn't just get ruined." He was prepared to continue feeling awful when she started doing what seemed an awful lot like teasing back.

"I... happen to think they're funny. Plus they're comfortable and they amuse me. Not exactly like I PLAN on people seeing them and..." He hesitated then was suddenly yanked along by her. He made sure to keep up, glancing from her to the hand dragging him. Well that certainly was against the no-touchy rule.. But... he smiled. He knew she was on edge because of what he said, but she was trying to be... sweet?

"and I'd think anyone who SHOULD see them would... I dunno.. think it was... quirky?" He was glad she was pulling him along. He blushed, not having expected to have to explain his choice in underwear.

"No. No one would ever ever think they are quirky. Unless they were insane. I think that should be the new test for such things. Hold up a picture of you wearing those and if the person laughs and gets the joke, they are refused high ranking seats." Yuzuki grumbled, her heart not in her words. She continued to drag him down the paths, hearing what sounded like water and making her speed up slightly. "My clothes are fine! They are meant for this, getting dirty and such!"

"I'll accept your point that you don't plan for others to see them, if you accept my point that they were the worst. Hurry I hear water, Hideki!" Her voice was excited and ungrumpy as she spoke, a small happy laugh escaping her.

She sounded meaner and meaner but her voice... just didn't quite have that BITE to it. Hideki smiled more. Yes. This was definitely teasing. He would hug her if that wouldn't entirely undo her efforts. Besides. He snickered, before bursting into a full laugh. "I suppose that could be used as a benchmark for mental stability. Although if they're really as bad as you say, maybe it would cause more mental scarring than it would weed out those already ill?" He was happy to laugh and hearing a pleasant noise come out of her encouraged his good mood.

"Fair trade off. And yeah, let's hurry!" Not like the water was going anywhere, but it wasn't as if he wanted to burst her good mood bubble. Following the sound, it wouldn't take more than another few moments for them to get there. Rounding a corner, they'd find a large open room. There was a landing before pristine crystal-blue water. The walls were stone, covered in a healthy green moss, with old red symbols visible still. The lake shifted and made noise. It was so clear that the source of the reservoir was easily visible even from its edge. An underground spring, amidst ruins. The water rushed up from it, the spring staying level by draining out through small slits at the side of the room.

"Wow..."

"Those who survive it are stronger for the experience. Wouldn't want such weaklings in the Shinigami ranks anyways!" Yuzuki laughed more, enjoying this teasing at Hideki's expense immensely. It was rather fun to make fun of him, back and forth like this.

She couldn't reply Hideki anymore, stunned utterly by the sight that awaited her. It...was...gorgeous. The part of her that craved adventure and new things took over utterly and she let go of Hideki's hand as she rushed forward. Stripping off her boots and leggings, she quickly started taking her coat off before a puff of smoke showed her now in happy doge form and bounding into the lake.

He was still enjoying her happiness. It seemed like it might be one of the first times he'd seen her genuinely happy... At least when she wasn't rushing towards something inherently dangerous. Which was thankfully not the case now. He rubbed his hand when she let go and glanced at her, opening his mouth. "Ah..Uhh." She started stripping down. His face went red but before she could subject him to something she would yell at him for later....

Pfft... 'subject'. Because it would be SO awful. QUIET BRAIN!

He pulled his upper garments off and his outer lower ones. He'd learned his lesson the last time and wore both sets of clothes now. In the thinner white pants, which he quickly rolled up to his knees before diving in. He surfaced, looking around. "Yuzu?" He rubbed the water out of his eyes, spotting the dog. "How's the water?"

"It's nice! Aaah it feels so good on my fuuur!" The voice came from the dog, much happier and cute than her usual one. She giggled and dove under the water, surfacing with happy paddles after a minute. Seeing Hideki enter the water, she barked and paddled towards him at full speed.

"Ahahahaha! Got you! Tag! Wait no I can't swim fast... Um... Do you have a ball? We can play water ball!" The sweet voice was happy and content as the puppy circled Hideki. Her claws might hurt him so she was not trying to get too close.

"Wah?" Hideki started treading water, just watching the happy little doge swim around. She... She seemed so... "Uhh.." He had seen her in doggy mode before and she seemed happy but not... THIS happy.. She turned and started paddling towards him. He felt like he'd been spotted by a shark.

"Uhh. I'm.. tag?" He began spinning in little circles trying to keep facing her. "Uh.. N-no, I don't have a ball. Play.. We could uhh." He had not expected playtime. Okay... "We could play... Uhh... Marco Polo? but... there's only the two of us.." He was also worried about her swimming with his eyes closed. "If you get tired, lemme know, I can hold you for a while."

"Hmm it'd probably echo and hurt my ears actually. Hmmm..." The cute voice continued as she swam around, unable to stop moving or else she'd start sinking. The one major flaw of Doge form, swimming was a pain.

"We can just swim around! Weeee!" Laughing, Yuzuki in doge form swam as fast her body could let her away from the shinigami, enjoying herself so utterly even without amusements. It felt niiice in this place, soothing and relaxing. She liked looking at the markings on the walls, wondering if they had anything to do with hers since they were red too.

"O-Oh! I wouldn't want to...... hurt your ears." His voice trailed off. He was used to dealing with Tsundere Yuzu.... And she knew dog Yuzu... But happy dog Yuzu was... something else. He gave her space to swim, feeling inherently worried about her sinking.. "Y-yeah!" He swam under the water, diving down. The water was so nice... he kept an eye out for her, eventually resurfacing.

"So..You're the history buff. Any idea what these ruins could be?" He swam over and moved some moss off of the wall, looking at the markings before pushing away, backstroking towards the doggy, before stopping to give her some space.

"Mm they could be related to my family's, but doge form makes it hard to distinguish the marks well. I'd have to shift to examine them... But that would be really bad! But the labyrinth did remind me of that shrine under our lands. I wonder if they were once part of the same features?" Doge Yuzuki paddled around one red marking, glancing up and staring at them. Her head turned to Hideki for a moment and she asked, "Hey, hold me for a second will you? If I can stop moving just for a bit... I might be able to look better."

She seemed to have no qualms or issues with this request.

"Huh. I didn't even consider the ruins might go out that far. The spring must be connected to some sort of water source, but I'm just not crazy enough to go down there, if I even COULD swim against that current." Although... he might be able to flash step against it? Still. Spelunking always seemed insane to him. Then again... He swam over to Yuzuki and picked her up, holding her closely and treading water so she would be able to stay still and look at the walls. "So... Can you get a better look?"

"They might just be made by the same people at the same time, not actually connected in that way. The spring...I don't know much about that sort of thing though. You'd have to find someone else for that." Yuzuki laughed and then turned her attention on the markings, trying to see well... "Hm, I can make out a few similar but the designs are different in significant ways. They seem about the same time, but I really can't be sure. If only I could be in human form for this... My eyes could pick out the differences I'd need to and I could get closer."

Yuzuki sighed and licked Hideki's face. "Take me back to shore please? I'm going to shift and head back to these markings."

He raised an eyebrow, listening to all of that examination come out of a little doggy mouth. Well. He was happy to know he didn't have the same instinct to fawn over her like this that he did otherwise. Maybe she should just always be in doggy form. And no sooner did he think that when she suggested switching back. "O-Okay. Sure!" Great. How was this going to work. She would be sopping wet. He stopped swimming for a second, before forcing himself to continue.

"Yeah.. I can't imagine doggy vision is excellent for archaeology." He got to the shore and gently placed her on land before crawling out. He turned and sat himself down in the shallow of the water, facing the water so she could... who even know what she was planning to do, but he was giving her her privacy.

"It's not..." Yuzuki grumbled as she shook all the excess water off, a puff of smoke signifying her shift almost immediately after. Squeezing her now messed up hair that fell from its pinning, though it did not drag due to the braiding and curling that had been done to it, she got as much water out as she could before slipping on her leggings and grabbing her undershirt. Both were black and would cling to her, but they would show nothing truly. Besides, she wanted to investigate the markings!

Turning towards the water, Yuzuki executed a perfect dive back into it, surfacing a ways away as her hair floated in a white shimmer around herself as she swam over to the wall. As she tread water, she glanced back at over to Hideki with a small smile. "Come on, a second set of eyes would be amazing help in this."

Hideki heard the poof and was still expecting some sort of ranting followed by maybe some sort of drying process? Or being told to slowly turn as she moved and then face a cave wall while she investigated. He did not expect to see a shapely pair of legs covered by hilariously tight material pass his eyes. He glanced over to see her diving into the pool. Oh god. He'd entered a nightmare. He was still shaken up when she looked back and smiled, melting some part of the poor Librarian.

"Y..Yeah, right away." Well at least he'd be mostly underwater. He dove into the water and swam over to follow her to the markings. "Th-the water's nicer when you've got color vision, yeah?"

"I have that in dog form too, its just the position of the eyes and how...different it is compared to seeing with my own. Everyone and everything looks a little skewed and trying to go from human memory to dog eyes makes it look weird." Yuzuki spoke clearly, though she was obviously paying more attention to the markings that Hideki at all now.

"Its still utterly magnificent in here... I would stay all day if I could. But see? Now that I can see straight... Look, the markings are more similar! My forehead, its one like this. But older, my marking is a more feminine one. This one has traces of the masculine ones, while also being just a bit different. I am sure of it! The shrine under the lands are somehow... matching this secret spring."

Hideki swam over and floated along to the wall, righting himself and looking at the markings. He went to grab his Zanpakuto before realizing he had of course left it on the shore. "Ugh." Great. He needed to find some way to... Ah! "Be right back." He swam back to shore and picked up Librom, ripping a page from it and grabbing the pen before swimming back over to Yuzuki. He pressed the page to the wall and began copying the symbols, which worked surprisingly well given the wet paper. The wonders of zanpakuto paper.

"Hrm. It's too bad we can't get up higher to get a closer look at them." He frowned, turning to glance at her. So... this place might have something to do with the shrines under her house. "Maybe they're decorative but made by the same culture? Can't really get a good look at any of the smaller ones, or reach the moss from down here."

Yuzuki nodded as he left, still examining the markings. A few more were similar to ones she had seen or had tattooed on her body. She was busy still checking the markings against ones in her head when Hideki came back over with paper that you could still write on wet.

"Can you get me a piece once you are finished? I want to make my own notations... Also it IS a shame!" Yuzuki let out a frustrated growl at the missed opportunity, brushing some shimmer wet hair out of her face. "They could be just marks...my family could have mistaken it long ago and it just means something like 'Left hall' or 'eat buns here' or even 'nonfiction section'. I hope not, but its possible... Maybe if we each take one spot, we can mark down and then compare differences while not swimming?"