And then they were captains

Hideki hadn't exactly had a busy day. It was a particularly slow day to start with and the staff seemed to be have a surprising dearth of lollygagging going on. Hideki himself had absolutely nothing to do. In fact, he'd been so bored he'd started actively seeking things to do but... between his excellent lieutenant and the staff's chipper mood, there wasn't really... ANYTHING to do...

Which was why he was currently whiling away the day the way he used to. By doodling at the front desk. Truly wasting time was a great art form and he was van gogh, except... without the missing ear and all the crazy shit. Yeah. Awesome!

Aoi, wearing her new fancy outfit, waltzed into the Library division. She had a small bruise on her cheek and a cut lip but otherwise looked perfectly nice, her new Haori with the bright red inside, a matching red sash tying it closed to her waist. No body suit on today, merely her miniskirt uniform!

Moving up to the front desk, she covered her mouth as she smiled, her longer curling red hair pulled to the side in a bun. "I see you get promoted and just spend the day doing the same things? Man Hideki, that has to be the best."

Hideki felt a sudden wave of Deja Vu and looked up, scattering his pencil somewhere off the table. "Huh? Oh. Oh, Aoi!" He stood up and scurried around the desk to give her a hug. "Oh man, you made captain too? Congratulations!" It was the first thing he noticed and, therefore, the first thing he thought to say. "Yeah, it was a slow day so I figured I'd at least officially be doing nothing." He grinned, happy to see her, before his face drooped.

"What happened to you? You're hurt." He leaned in a bit to look closer at her wounds, reaching into his pocket to put his glasses on, as if they improved his vision somehow.

Aoi returned the hug, patting the taller young man's back slightly. "Yep! Vanguards now, I get to bust their butts back into shape. Thaaanks, sorry I never stopped by more than in passing to congratulate you. At least if you are sitting here, people like me can stop by and bug ya."

"Oh? Nah, a friend just gave me a good idea and I followed through. I have more free time since I started beating up my division members in groups instead of one on one!" Aoi's smile was enthusiastic, she was pleased with this rather obviously. Why was he putting the gogg-glasses on they did nothing...

"How have you been? I came by to see you and explain some things at least. About before."

"Oh. Well. That's... terrifying." He said, about the source of the wounds. The vanguards were not softies. The vanguards scared him a little and he was many times more powerful than them. He remembered briefly that Aoi was some kind of monster. An angel, but some kind of monster angel.

He took the glasses off, now that his inspecting was done and raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Explain? About before?" He tipped his head ever so slightly, wondering what she meant. With all that had gone on, he only vaguely remembered something about fullbringers? He remembered she had a frigging hollow inside of her. Hadn't forgotten that, but... Oh! She was dating a fullbringer? "Oh! Yeah! You were dating a fullbringer right? Uh... Did that eventually come to light with the higher ups? I'm assuming by the promotion you didn't get into trouble."

"Not really, they are pushovers. A few remember me from school so it made it slightly easier. Just cause I look like this they think I am weak or not good at fighting. I have to show em who's boss~" Those twenty or so at least she hadn't had to fight! They just ran away.

Reaching up, she patted Hideki's shoulder as he stood confused before it slid down a bit so she could push him on. "Come on, take me to an office or more private place. Its about the other thing~ I can ramble about Rin if you want, and its...still uncommon knowledge but no one seems to mind."

Talking about a hollow inside of her would be rather bad just here in public...and with her position now it was more secure discussing Rin anywhere.

"They must have never taken phys ed in the academy." Shit. What if most of them were older than her tenure there? Shit, that joke didn't follow through. Whatever, don't think on it, maybe she won't! Yeah, just roll with it!

"Uhh, yeah." He thought for a second. Could he take her to the captain's office? No, Mia was working there.... hrm. "Okay, I can take you to my office, but." He raised a finger in the air. "It's a SUPER secret. So you can't tell anyone, alright?" He hoped she was in a goofy mood or he was just making the hugest dick of himself.

"A lot of em are too old! I was only there a few decades, you were just one of the lucky ones~" Aoi teased, liking the joke as she gave a smile. Hideki was a silly person and fun to bother or hang around.

Hideki was thinking, Mia had his old office from what Aoi could remember, so she wondered if the woman was working today then. It seems he knew though a place! Giving a grin, she winked. "No one will be told! You have my silence on the matter."

Aoi was generally always accepting of goofy moods and hers matched Hideki's. "Lead me to the Lair of Secrets~"

He grinned, glad to see she would go along with his shenanigans. He spun on a heel and set off. "Away we go, then!" He exclaimed, jogging off to lead her through the myriad bookcases and labyrinthine aisles. He eventually led her to a secret passage. He turned with a comically serious look on his face. "And remember. This place is secret, upon pain of death."

And with that, he led her into Mia's old secret hideout, now HIDEKI'S secret hideout. There was a rather sizeable TV with a couch in front of it and various reading chairs strewn about, surrounded by perfectly arranged spiral stacks of books. There was also something akin to a kitchen, only rather... bachelor-y...

"Ta-daaaa."

Aoi followed at a good pace, keeping up easily as she grinned. It seems he was in fact in a goofy mood! her guess had been a good one. She ran her pinched fingers across her lips at his words, nodding solemnly before her grin returned as strong as ever.

Making it to the hideout, she gave a whistle as she took in the details. "This is niiice. Looks very very comfy and secret!"

The spiral of books interested her and she made her way over to it. Looking over it, she grinned as she picked up a book before setting it down. Aoi then plopped onto a reading chair and motioned Hideki to seal the room. "Secret secrets mustn't be heard."

"It is very much of both, thank you!" He said with a little bow, appreciating how she played along. He sharply inhaled as she touched the stack. Those things fell over ALLLL the time... but it was okay and soon she was plopped comfily in a chair. Ah. So what she wanted to talk about was a very real secret. He nodded and shut the door to the place, sensing to see if he could pick up anyone outside but they were in the clear.

He plopped himself down on the couch near where Aoi had sat. "So! What's all the hubbub then?"

"Welcome!" Aoi was laughing, that little bow was amusing! Hideki should put on shows sometimes, he was quite fun to be around; The Aoi and Hideki Power Hour? Yes.

Once the door was shut though, she nodded as a more serious expression crossed her features. It still didn't remove the smile on her face but she leaned back and stretched. "Eeeh, Maki knows about my being a Vizard, but its still not common knowledge. It shouldn't get around, but since you know I thought I'd come ease your mind. She was kind of mean to you, so I wanted to apologize."

She wanted to show him her new trick but sheesh, too many books! Blood splatter was never good for them.

Hideki blinked... a little caught off guard. "Uh.. Wha..." He shook his head, before sitting up on the couch. "Oh. So. Um." He wasn't dumbfounded, there were just so many thoughts racing through his head. "Well I'm glad everything's fine with Maki... But when did you find out? Are you and her... uh... okay?" He asked one after the other, scratching his head, feeling all of the neurons starting to fire all too quickly. "I mean.. Wait, she wasn't mean to me.."

Aoi waited for Hideki to be done a bit, letting him react as he needed to. She yawned and ruffled a bit of red hair, relaxed and just waiting... At his question, Aoi thought and as she did she looked up. Putting a finger to her lips, she smiled.

"Um, a week or more before my promotion? I've been noticing odd things... and pushing against just something in my head? So I think one day I got tired of it and pushed too hard. I'm not really sure how it happened but it was like a dam broke so then I was all loopy. I ended up meeting her in there and it is fine now. She's kind of mellow, more than me!" Laughing lightly, Aoi shook her head to the side as she pointed. "She was too! Maybe just rude? I dunno, it seemed mean to me. I have access to her thoughts and memories now too."

"My heads more crowded than ever...but its fun. I feel...calm. Stable." Nodding, she pulled a knife from her sleeve and spun it for a moment. "You deserved to know so you didn't worry, Hideki."

Hrm.. Okay so she found out and then promoted her. That was a good sign. Showed that Maki trusted her. While he didn't know Maki too well, he trusted her to identify if Aoi's hollow could make her dangerous. "Hm. Well I'm glad to see the two of you connected." He said with a little nod, before laying back down on the couch, looking up (from his perspective) at her.

"Well, I guess if you remember her being rude she probably was. I just didn't pick up on it." He was a little embarrassed that he hadn't thought she was being mean. Whoops. "But she seemed to want to protect you so I'm glad you connected with her. And that you feel good about it." He smiled before immediately frowning out of concern.

"Um.. What'cha doing with that knife?"

"Thanks! Yeah, you are kind of...nice? I guess. You look for the best in others type of deal, Hideki. I mean you are glad a monster in my head and I connected? Silly silly." Aoi laughed and waved the knife before Hideki's words stopped her and she looked at the knife.

"Playing with it? Hm, is something wrong?" Aoi spun it more, blinking and wondering what was wrong with this. It was just a knife, she liked playing with them... Or maybe she used to, and it was now a habit that bled over?

She...She guessed? Ouch... Okay... He pouted a little before brushing it off. He tipped his head back to see her better, before giving a little sort of shrug. "I dunno... People are people, even if they're monsters. She sounded like she cared about you and you sounded like you were happier with the arrangement. Um.. Sorry if I said anything to hurt you though." He rubbed his head, hoping he hadn't made too much of a faux paux or anything.

"And N-no! Not at all! I was just curious." He was maybe a little curious if she was about to stab something, but hey. If she liked playing with knives, good for her. Just as long as she didn't start cutting up furniture... or him...

"Nope. You didn't, don't worry. It takes more than that to hurt me, I think." Aoi was rather sure he hadn't insulted her, Hideki being incapable of it really. Still though he had said more that needed replying to even if she wasn't sure how to explain it. "I guess? I'm still upset Rin and her kept it from me, but its not really a big problem now. Don't be so nervous!"

She had to laugh, he seemed so ill at ease now! Had becoming a Captain made him all shy? "Jeeeez Hideki. I'm not gonna stab you... Here I'll put the knife away."

Giggling, she slipped it back up her sleeve with a practiced motion and shook her head. "I could show you something with my mask, but it'd get blood all over so I'll just tell you~ You are smart, so maybe you'd be able to help?"

"I heal really quickly with it on, so I wanna find the limit, you know? I'm the Vanguards leader and so I need to know how far I can go before bad stuff. I'm not sure how to figure it out though, should I just keep stabbing myself until the healing slows down? Is there a time limit?" Aoi looked at the previously stated smart captain with a bit of happy hope. "If you have ideas I'd love to hear em!"

Hideki sat up and gave her a sheepish sort of smile, feeling sort of dumb for treading so carefully around her like she was a stranger. It was Aoi, after all. "Alright. Sorry." He said with a smile, feeling a little bad for being on edge once she felt like she needed to put the knife away. He should trust her better than that too... He did very much want to see something with her mask but... like she said, blood everywhere.... too many books.... and couches...

"Hmm... that's... " He furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment. "Well... If you trust her... and I've never had any reason not to... You should just get Lakshmi to do it. She'd know how to test the limits of your regen without putting you in mortal peril, or how to safely test the parameters of it. It sounds like some grisly testing, but I can see why it's important to know. You can't just suddenly find out the limits of your regeneration in the middle of a life or death struggle."

"Sheeeeeesh! Hidekiiii. No apologies, I'll come right over there and pinch your little cheeks until you feel better... Or worse? I'll do it though." Aoi immediately went into grumpy pout mode, waving a threatening hand that motioned pinches at him. His suggestion was a sound one but...she felt the Medical Captain might be...

"Wouldn't she be a bit...Iunno, like nice? It'll hurt and I'll be screaming probably, even with my high pain tolerance. If she stops part way through we won't figure anything out! I'll stop by and see her though, thanks, its nice to see you at least understand! Rin would be pissed if he knew though, he really doesn't like seeing me all messed up." It was a good suggestion and a good place to start, plus if she overreached the healing she was sure the Captain could bring her back to good health in no time!

"No. Not that." He said, holding his hands over his cheeks and laughing a little. He was kidding but... he also knew she'd do it... she was so strong, his poor face couldn't handle that kind of abuse.

"Hrm... I suppose... I didn't think about that.... But.... she could probably do it medically somehow? Like... numb an area she'll be working on or if it has to get invasive, do an epidural? Or she could probably figure out... I dunno, how fast the cells themselves are regrowing? She's pretty good at science shit. Then again, Alex is good at that too..." Hmm...

"...Those are good points. They could use sciencey methods instead of the whole stabbing until it stops methods." Aoi had never even considered those things, which was rather telling of the type of person she was really. Hideki's fear of cheek pinches was good, so he should stop apologizing but if not...she was prepared for it.

Alex too... Aoi hmmed slightly and tilted her. "Well, I guess Alex too would be able to. Science can do things like that?"

Hideki nodded, pulling his book out, he looked up, smiling a little as he began drawing. "Yeah! Science can do TONS of things! You'd be surprised how advanced science has become in the last hundred years even. Hell, even the last thirty." Of course, most of soul society really didn't keep up with that... Hrm. Could he make a digital copy of the great library?

... That seemed like a good project to do...

"Hmm..." He said, glancing down at his paper before reaching down to the book and pulling something out. It was a little box with a handle on the bottom and a display on it, with two little tesla coils sticking out of the top. On top of the display it read. "Regen Measuring Device." And in the display was a little needle. He sat up and moved over to Aoi before putting the device near her and pushing the button.

It made a little 'Bwoop.' And the needle went all the way to the right, with the tesla coils lighting up bright colors. "Hm." Hideki pointed it up in the air and pressed the button. 'Bwoop'. Hrmm... He pointed it at himself. 'Bwoop.'.

Hideki sighed and underhanded the little device to Aoi. "Well I don't know why I thought THAT would work. Here. Have a free noise maker."

"Science is amazing. I must test this science out then." Aoi nodded almost as sagely as was possible, watching as Hideki drew in his book. When he pulled something out, she clapped and grinned before tilting her head in confusion as it made sounds. Hideki had been tinkering with it and it seemed to be...broken?

It had pointy things on top and as he moved closer and pressed the button, nothing happened.... Or well nothing he wanted to happen happened as was obvious from his expression and words. Accepting the noise maker she nodded solemnly and then patted his shoulder. "Thank you for the uh... not able to sense regen device?"

It had that on it, so it must have been intended for that. She smiled and laughed, patting Hideki more before moving to stand. "I appreciate the thought... though I should head out and see one of those two for this."

He sighed. "You're welcome." He said with a smile and a little laugh, just to let her know he wasn't really down about it. Hadn't exactly been a huge waste of energy to conjure it so he certainly didn't mind giving her the doodad. He noticed she was getting up and followed suit.

"Yeah. Might as well get it done sooner rather than later.." He said, heading to the secret door and opening it. "But hey. Don't be a stranger? I don't want to have to wait weeks to see you again. I don't have so many friends that I don't mind one disappearing for stretches of time." He was teasing her, especially considering he'd been too busy to visit her as well.