An Unexpected Return [nsfw]

Rin looked concerned and worried so Aoi shot him a happy smile as she straightened, her hand slipping into his as she led him along the street. His worries would be for nothing, as Aoi led him up to a regular looking shop. Opening the door with her free hand, the shinigami stepped inside and waved Rin to look. It was filled with hand crafted tables and shelves, some carved and others plain but for varnish. All were in old styles, and there were even screens and other such wall coverings available. Mats and cushions were in one corner of the large shop.

"Mm, does this make you feel better My Lord?" Trying to be solemn, she glanced at Rin to see his reaction.

Rin followed Aoi, his hand in hers as she brought them to the furniture shop she'd mentioned. His eyes automatically moving to glance around at the area, all the handcrafted, traditional furniture and such within the building.

Obviously all of these handcrafted and old-styled products proved to be a proper distraction from his embarrassment. His eyes holding obvious interest in everything.

At Aoi's question he managed a nod, his eyes roaming over the store again before he tore them away to look at Aoi and give her a smile. "The...the walk helped ease...the embarrassment, but yes; I'm better."

That...rather interested look. She could continue the teasing later, when he wasn't as excited at this. Aoi counted it as excitement, playing with the scarf around her neck as she watched Rin. The embarrassment was gone and a smile was on his face, so Aoi lead the man further into the shop so he could look more. "Good!"

Pulling him to a screen covered in carvings and painted rather well, she pointed. "So this stuff interests you?"

She had no idea what such things were worth but it was all high quality work, costing a small fortune in the living world. The tables nearby were the same, lacking paint or lacquer though. She wondered about whether she should order some items for her rooms in the barracks?

"Aha...I suppose, I'm interested in older styled...traditional things." He felt a bit silly saying that, he'd said it before but perhaps it'd come out better then. "Since my home for the most part is completely modernized..."

It was nice seeing these types of things, especially some of these handcrafted ones; they were all well and beautifully made.

"...So you like them a bit more than other things?" Aoi was watching Rin carefully, noting how withdrawn he seemed about admitting it. He seemed embarrassed or shy to admit it? Whyyy? She was slightly confused.

"...is it like a hobby to you? You can get excited about things Rin. I think its cute and its perfectly normal to like things!" Laughing lightly, Aoi poked Rin's cheek before making a face at him.

"I suppose it can be considered a hobby, though I mostly just look at things like this." Rin chuckled, "a lot of work can go into making them and they can turn out looking so nice...it's amazing."

He was smiling, unable to help it as Aoi poked his cheek.

Aoi's grin grew as Rin spoke, it was nice to see him so interested in something like that and with how happy he was. "It is. People who make things are amazing. Just. Like. You."

Booping his nose, Aoi twirled and moved around the store with him. She'd let him decide when they left, though she'd be interested in hearing any bits of information he picked up over the years or wanted to tell her.

Another laugh escaped him, though a bit sheepish sounding this time at Aoi's words. Again, his hand would have moved to his scarf...but a bit too late he remembered he wasn't wearing it; with a blush, he continued going along and looking at things as if he'd never made the mistake.

Aoi watched Rin reach for his scarf, before reaching out and grabbing his hand after a bit of thought. She gently placed it on his scarf around her neck and then let go. He could feel it if he wanted there, though there was bare skin under it unlike when he did it to himself.

After a bit she led him to the exit, enjoying his pleased smiles at the place with a laugh. "Come on Rin! We still gotta get Sake and head to the blacksmith. Unless you'd rather head right back after we get the alcohol?"

"Sorry, it's a habit." He said with a small shrug; he was a bit embarrassed she'd noticed...though she'd noticed the first time too.

He was able to see a lot of fine craftsmanship within the store, perfectly pleased with almost everything they came across. It was all so well and carefully made, he was happy Aoi had thought to come here.

"I'm fine, we can get the sake and head to the blacksmith." Rin replied as Aoi led them outside again.

"...Don't apologize. I was just letting you touch it." Aoi smiled at Rin, though she rolled her eyes a bit at his reaction. She was trying to make him happy, though it seemed like this had been a great idea since she rarely seen Rin so animated about things. He'd been...having fun. She had watched him more than the items, just... entranced with his excitement.

Nodding, Aoi lead Rin just two shops down and headed inside. It took a brief moment to pay for a jar of the stuff, held with a rope carrying sling, before Aoi led him back out. The smell of the rice and sake in there was strong, but there wasn't much in and of itself to see. If she could have she would have taken Rin in back to watch them work...

Carrying the sake, she hummed a happy tune as they headed back down the street. It'd take just a bit to get to the blacksmith, so she felt she should ask him some things. "So what do you think? Its not entirely bad here in the afterlife huh?"

"It's not bad, I'm having a lot of fun; t-though...I think what's making it more enjoyable is having you here with me." Rin replied as they walked, offering another small smile to her.

He was having a nice time, yes, but he couldn't help but feel he wouldn't be enjoying himself as much if Aoi weren't here with him; she was definitely playing a large part in his happiness right now...

"Aah I wish I could show you the seireitei. There are all sorts of mishmashed things there, but you may like my rooms when you see them! They are all...well unaltered for the most part. I have some things from our dates and stuff in there now though so its..." Aoi trailed off as his words hit her, a blush rising in her face as she looked away. "...S-Same. I...being here with you...makes it nice. I wish..."

"O-Oh? It makes me happy to hear that..." It was nice to hear she treasured the things he'd gotten her on their dates and that she had them in her room. He didn't doubt they meant a lot to her, it was just nice hearing it. "From what I did see of the Seireitei...it looked like an interesting place."

"It really is interesting. I haven't gotten as much chance lately to see it all though. There's a huge library I visited once, its Hideki's and Mia's. Mm, I avoid the research division... There is also... well lots of fun places too." Aoi felt sheepish for not being able to list them all. She didn't seem... to realize how happy Rin was at her treasuring his gifts. He would see... how much so when he got into her rooms the next day.

Thinking for a moment, she stopped outside the blacksmith's place as they had finally reached their destination. It smelled of smoke and burning things, metal as well.

"Mm, oh wait Captain's house! Its a mansion."

He remembered hearing the divisions within the Seireitei specialized in different areas, it was interesting to hear how much variety there was. He mostly knew of the Human World division, since it was Aoi's and he'd heard vague things about the Research one since well...the captain had apparently been interested in him from what Aoi had said...

"Oh? A mansion?" He asked, he remembered Aoi mentioning he was a noblemen so he supposed a mansion was suiting...though it was hard to picture such a gigantic living space, considering he thought his own was too large, and it wasn't even a mansion. "I'm guessing everything is pretty spaced out...considering the size of the Seireitei and all..."

"Its huuuge. I dunno how he does it, but he has servants. I suppose Mia will live there one day too, so it'll be captain and Mia's mansion? And Nozomi, his little sister's." Aoi nodded before speaking more. "I guess... so? In some places yes. In others its all smushed up, but I can tell you about it all later. Mm, lets head inside so you can see this!"

Laughing lightly she slid the door open of the shop and stepped inside, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Rin followed.

"Alright, I'll be happy to listen." Rin replied, smiling.

It'd be good to learn more about the Seireitei, what all was in there, the other professions of the divisions, it definitely caught his interest so he'd be happy to hear whatever Aoi wanted to tell him about it.

He followed Aoi inside, again his eyes looked around at their surroundings once they'd entered the shop. Blacksmiths weren't really...common, or well not like this anyway, back in his world so it was another thing Rin was interested in seeing.

"Okaaay. I shall ramble about the squads later." Aoi laughed lightly at Rin's interest, glad he wanted to hear. She had almost been in squad 2, the Captain had had her...do work over the years. He hadn't called on her lately. Kind of odd... but well she had been changing so much lately. Maybe her skills had fallen into disuse? Nah, she was using them more than ever in the human world.

There were more than a few items laying about on the walls or in cases. If this was a smaller town or village it wouldn't have items on display, but with as many customers as they got here it would be silly not to. They had a counter where you could order or pay and it had a few people up there already. Aoi lead Rin over to the ornamental things, not sure he'd want to see the weapons or not, but they were nearby... "Tada! Well it looks like we can't see the forge. I wonder if I could use my shinigami status to let you see..."

Rin looked around at all of the items laying around on display, his attention on them and the ornamental items Aoi had led them to until he heard her voice.

"A-Ah you don't need to do that, it's fine. I don't mind just looking at what's here." He replied, he didn't want Aoi going out of her way and using her status for something like this. He was perfectly happy right now with Aoi just showing him this much...

"If you are suure." Aoi peered at Rin to discern his true feelings, hoping he wasn't trying to be all... stuffy with them. If he wanted to, she was sure they'd be happy to show a shinigami their forge. Still as he looked at ornamental items, she slowly moved towards the weapons. Her eyes sparkled as she eyed a particularly nice set of throwing daggers. Ohohohoho~ She was practically drooling.

"I'm sure."

He was perfectly content. The items here were enough, and like the furniture at the other store these were well crafted. A lot of work must have gone into making all of this, even the tiniest of things. He glanced over to Aoi, noticing her interest had been caught by something. She was in the weapons area...daggers, it looked like?

"Aaah those edges. I bet they could..." Aoi moved onto the next set of weapons, more daggers. It seemed she had a thing for such weapons. Biting her lip, she tried to hide her pleased smile. These... were instruments of death here. She really shouldn't get so excited... Especially with Rin nearby... "It's not like my shikai isn't the best daggers in the world. I just... these are so...sharp looking."

"Well, weapons are important...here anyway, even if your's is the best it's still good to show interest in others..." Or...so he figured, if what he'd said had even made sense anyway...

In this world weapons were of high importance, shinigami used them for their jobs, some used them for self defense...they certainly had more of a common role here anyway; he could only assume most held interest.

Aoi startled at Rin spoke up not thinking he was that close or that he would pay attention to what she said. Laughing rather sheepishly, she looked away from him and the weapons. "W-Well I guess. Um! Have you seen all you wanted? If so we should leaaave! Its gonna get dark soon. I bet you are a bit worn out from all this walking and going from place to place huh?"

She didn't want to admit she had been admiring the weapons for...rather dark purposes. Rin was her light. They shouldn't mix.