No Moping, I Swear

Masaru looked over to the koi pond, his smile softening at Mia's interest as she asked about feeding them.

"Yes, they're tame and sure, you can feed them." He nodded, before moving to stand. "One moment, I'll get their food that you can give them."

He left momentarily, initiating the use of shun po to make the trip quick before he returned.

"Here." He handed Mia the bag containing their food, his smile still soft as he sat down and made himself comfortable again.

Mia raised a hand as Masa stood up and...shunpoed away rather quickly. He didn't have... to do...that... As he came back, she was holding back some giggles as she looked up at him, taking the bag of food with the hand not covering her mouth. "Thank you Masa. I don't have any pets... I-I have bad luck. A-And no garden."

More like a forest of evil right outside. An overgrown nightmare fit for a fairytail. Nozomi had been shocked and laughed at Mia's admitting that she was awful at taking care of live things...

Still, with a pleased grin she reached into the bag and tossed a small bit of food to the Koi, giving the happiest smile as they swarmed over and tried to eat it all. "Ah! Look at them, they seem happy... Do they have names?"

Her purple eyes shone as she looked at Masa hopefully.

"I see." Masaru replied in response to hearing about Mia's apparent bad luck with animals. It was a shame, depending on the animal they could make great friends and even help with stress. "Mm, well...I actually never named them..."

Perhaps he should have...though he'd never heard of anyone naming fish before...or well, heard of people doing so that often...

"Would...you like to name them?" He asked, giving another small smile.

"I-I couldn't name your fishes for you." Mia's face was beat red as she waved her hands a bit nervously. He was going to think her weird for thinking of naming fish. Her eyes glanced at Masa for a brief moment, before the fishes caught her attention again. Their colors were so pretty... she laughed as they jostled for more food since she was still there.

That one had a spot and this one had a nice shimmer....

"You sure?" Masaru asked, "I wouldn't mind."

He didn't think he could be very creative with fish names anyway...

He glanced down at the pond again, watching as they swam around, most of them gathering towards the edge closest to Mia due to her having the food.

"It's...weird to have me naming them Masa. I-I mean they are your fish. I-It feels...in-intimate..." Mia was blushing intensely now, unable to even glance at the captain sitting there as she fed the fishies a little but more. Not wanting to over feed and kill them though, she closed the bag and moved back up onto the platform fully.

It was highly possible due to her bad luck she'd end up have to perform fish Heimlich maneuvers on Masa's precious Koi. They were probably fancy koi... He...was a noble even if he didn't use it that often.

Curious about that... Mia decided to switch topics from him attempting to get her to name his fish for him... "Is it ever odd being... Mm, this is weird to ask but... A noble? How do you handle the stresses of both work and running a family..."

Masaru felt his face tint slightly. Was it...really that intimate a thing?

He knew he couldn't ever name them...but if Mia had any ideas he wouldn't of minded it if she wanted to...

His attention was pulled from his thoughts at her question. Glancing down, back at the pond, he looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Well...sometimes I don't really care for it. I never thought it...very odd though since it was just the lifestyle I was raised in. Frustrating at times and there are some customs I don't agree with, but overall not odd...I knew all the way back from when I was a child that my life would eventually lead to this...being head of the clan and a captain...I was raised and trained knowing that's what I'd become."

"So being raised into it makes it easier? Mm I guess... I-Its still worrisome for your friends. You work so much... y-you rarely take breaks. I...worry too." Mia watched Masa, watching the pond. She gave a soft smile and tilted her head. "I'm happy you can admit you don't like it sometimes though... Is there anything else you'd want to try if you could?"

"I-If you ever...need a break or a place to hide from the world... y-you can come to the library. Its big and has lots of hiding places...o-or my house... Its out of the way..." And hopefully Masa would give her warning so she could hide all the Otome and game stuff. Luckily all the MA rated stuff had been hidden quickly at Nozomi's visit.

And that might have sounded forward, saying that! Mia's face stayed red but she didn't retract it. It was just a house!

"Mmm, well...I suppose a break would be nice...one where I'm not mopey and hiding." He added with a small chuckle, though giving a small wave of his hand to signify he was just joking. "Though I swear if I were to actually take one I might not know what to do with myself simply because i'm not working. Hobby-wise, I'm already doing what I love...such as cooking...most of my other hobbies are something you'd expect one of a noble household to do though, but I still enjoy them...So I'd say I'm rather content with my life as it is now but if I do decide on a break, I'd be happy to go there; spending time with you is nice, Mia."

Though the blush in his face had darkened when she'd mentioned her home...but, it wasn't like that was anything big...she was in his home right now...they were just homes.

Mia's smile was sweet as she let out a laugh, the joke making her a bit pleased he was feeling better about things. That was a big relief and she brushed away some of her hair that was migrating around her with her movements. "Mm, what about your other hobbies? A-And...that would...be fun."

F-Fun!? Why had she used that word... It was supposed to be relaxing... Well, instead of that, she stuttered the offer she had been trying to say for a while now. Mia wouldn't look Masa in the eye, but she wanted to... to see his reaction. "W-Well... You could take short breaks... with me. For a few hours... S-Sometime soon...if you wanted... I-I can help with things too, catching up on work I mean... I caused this... I-I'd like to I mean."

"I-I'd love to spend more time with you, I think it'd be...be very nice." He replied, his smile soft albeit the red in his face obvious. "As for...my other hobbies well...there's calligraphy, piano...cello...and I enjoy reading."

All in all they were fairly common hobbies, though the instruments were a bit uncommon perhaps but...all in all rather common but he'd grown up and learned to enjoy them. "I enjoy taking walks too, though mostly when it's darker out...the stars can be nice to gaze at during them, the temperature is also cooler as well."

"We'll...have to then." Mia smiled, she was still looking down, though at his admission he played piano and cello she looked up in happy shock. Her smile switched to a delighted one as she leaned forward. "Oh! Can I hear you play one day? A-All I can do is sing...b-but! Piano... or cello...it would be so pretty to hear it."

She laughed slightly, nodding a bit at his walking. That sounded amazingly nice to do, though she hadn't done it much herself. "It's...so calming to look at them. I-I like...going out when its snowing too. The cloak doesn't get too warm then... A-and I like...winter clothes..."

She could wear her nicer dresses then and play in it without worrying. Plus if she used her flames, Mia could make some cool ice designs. She'd always wanted to go ice skating or something but... the cloak honestly never allowed her to. Too many people.

"Of course, I don't mind playing for you." Masaru nodded, his expression brightening some at her next words. "You enjoy snow too? I loved playing in it when I was a child and I still enjoy to watch it fall when I'm relaxing."

He was definitely more inclined to colder weather, it just felt nicer to him and if he got too cold he could always grab a blanket or an extra layer of clothing to warm up.

"You don't play in it anymore? Why not?" Mia looked a bit bashful, thinking she still did... There were many things you could do alone in the snow, so it wasn't as if she got lonely. She just adored how white it was, how she could mold it. It had been snow she had learned to fine tune her fires on.

"I-I make lanterns...out of ice. The purple is pretty inside." Mia held out her hand, fingers of flames appearing at the end in a purple the same as her eyes. She clenched the fist after a second and let out a bashful chuckle as the flames dispersed into the air. One small one left, it went right up near Masa's face but gave off no heat.

"Ah, well...once I reached a certain age I was told it was too childish to do so...not that I really think it is, but I didn't want to argue about things like that back then." He replied with a small shrug, "that didn't stop me from secretly making the occasional snowball from time to time to toss it though."

His expression held a tint of amazement when Mia showed him her flames, burning a brilliant purple as he'd noticed before...though he was able to focus his attention on it without concern now since it wasn't burning in her hair. "I'll be they're really beautiful, the purple color of the flames you make is very pretty, Mia."

"Ah..." Mia's smell fell slightly as she remembered Masaru's earlier words about what had happened to him when younger, though it grew again at his youthful rebellions. She giggled slightly, one hand coming up to cover her mouth as her eyes closed. "One or two rebellious snowballs... Mm, when it snows I shall challenge you to a snowball fight!"

She'd never had one really, so this could could be quite fun for them both. Though what if he didn't want to? W-Well... maybe he would.

Pulling her hair in front of her face, she looked to the side at his rather... amazed compliments. The flame landed on Masa's lap, not burning at all as it sat there. "T-Thank you... Its...taken years to control it like this...It won't burn you. I-I mean it could if I let it, but I won't..."

Her eyes glanced back at Masa's rather amazed face again, tinting more. "W-Without shikai these small ones are all I can do..."

"Ahh? A snowball fight?" Masaru questioned, his eyebrow raising at the idea as a smile played on his face. "I believe I might be a challenge...as snow and ice are my forte."

He was a bit surprised as the small flame fell into his lap after he'd spoken, though it wasn't burning...

As Mia started speaking again he glanced over to her, listening to her explanation. "I see, that's really amazing...even if they're small. I assume, you're zanpakutou's is that of a fire element then?"

"They are? Really?" Mia was rather pleased, leaning forward more and clapping her hands together in front of her face. Masa was rather cute when he made that face... But even that wouldn't stop her. She was excited by this idea, it showed by both her reactions and lack of nervousness. "That should be fun, your snow powers and my fire powers! The ultimate showdown, though you are...much stronger than me, Senior Captain Shirakawa."

Her tone was teasing as her eyes sparkled, no longer hiding at all. The fire poofed out of existence and she nodded, reaching into her cloak and pulling out an abnormally long sword. The hilt and guard were stylized very slightly, the blade itself lacking the usual curve of a regular one. She held it out in front of her, is Masa wanted to take it he could. It was at least 3/4ths her height... "It is. Her name is Hono no u~Otcha. She likes...fire."

He couldn't help but give another small laugh, "It should be a lot of fun, I agree. No matter the difference in power, it's all for fun; no?"

Masaru looked at Mia's zanpakutou with interest as she held it and gave him it's name. It was stylized nicely and looked like a fine weapon, one definitely worthy of being a shinigami's zanpakutou.

"Mine is Gokkan no Ikari." He replied, glancing back behind him and into his room at the sword that sit in a stylized, crafted mount for it on the top of a shelf against the wall past the bed. The hilt of the sword being an pale, icy-blue while the guard was crafted as a flower shaped snow-flake. The name of the sword wasn't something you'd expect to hear from someone as easy going and kind as it's wielder was, considering what the name meant and all...

"You're zanpakutou is beautifully crafted, by the way. It's a fine sword."

"With ice powers we wouldn't have to wait until winter... Would you want to do it sometime then?" Her eyes lit up at all the ideas she had now that could barely be contained. Combining fire and ice... Pools could be made, lanterns out of season... Mia's excitement was palpable as she set aside her weapon. Always... it had been something to fear using. But she didn't fear it with someone like Masaru around, and she leaned forward as her mouth pressed against his cheek.

She was too excited to get flustered though and sat back down, her eyes following Masa's into the bedroom even if she couldn't see it from here. Maybe later he'd show her it up close? Now though a tint glazed her cheeks as he praised her zanpakuto.

"T-Thank you... Why is yours called such though? It seems so..cold. And you aren't cold at all." Her eyes were curious, head tilted once more.

"Sometime soon sounds fun, whenever we both have a day off maybe?" Masaru asked, honestly excited about the idea as well. He'd never really...used his zanpakutou for such but at the realization that he could made him happy and it made him even happier because Mia seemed excited about the idea as well.

At Mia's question though, about his own sword's name...he had to think for a moment; trying to come up with a proper response.

"Well...his abilities can be...kind of frightening...and I suppose I could look so when I'm using him...but, he is also an ice zanpakutou so something cold is fitting." He replied with a small chuckle.

"When you have a day off I can ask Hideki for that day off as well. I'm sure he'd be okay with it." Mia laughed lightly, thinking about how sweet a Captain she had. He had made her a whole courtyard to hide from others in, she couldn't do half as much for him...

Still, the snow adventure would be great! She even knew the perfect place to! There was a spot out where spars were held with a nice large water area. No one would bother them there!

"I see! Well... I promise not to be scared. Masa isn't... You aren't someone for me to ever fear." Her smile was sweet as she looked away, her face slightly red. "You are right, since it is ice. Sorry, I just... took it wrong."

"If it's no trouble, then that sounds fine." Masaru smiled, becoming more aware of his blush when Mia had said he wasn't someone she'd ever fear. "I'm glad to hear that...a-and you don't need to apologize about that...looking at me and then hearing the name of my zanpakutou, I can see why you'd ask. So it's nothing to apologize for, I understand."

Nodding softly, Mia looked back up and gave Masa her brightest smile with her eyes closed. Was...it a date? A rather odd first date at that, if it even was. She didn't want to think about that...it was too embarrassing!

"Mm, thank you. I just...didn't want to ask silly questions is all." Realizing she was ruffling her hair nervously, she then shook her head to settle it back down since it tended to get everywhere and move lots. With an eep she thought of something and blurted it out. "I-I thought up a name! For one of the fish... It shimmers. S-So Shimmer? Eek!"

Oh god she was such a dork, how could she have...just said something like that! Randomly! Grabbing her cloak, she went to put it on and hide after such a reaction but... couldn't complete the action.

"Hm? It wasn't silly, don't worry." Masaru replied, though slight surprise made it's way to his expression as Mia blurted out her next words before attempting to hide.

He couldn't help but smile afterwards, stifling a small chuckle. "I like it, it's fitting. Shimmer it is then."