Re: A Regular Check-Up [ Closed]

Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:46 am

A Regular Check-Up [ Closed] - Page 2 6EdIfMt

Midori Hayashi

Captain of the Second Division

Watching him intently as he answered, Midori had a few things travel through her mind. She looked back to her clipboard and wrote more. Midori blinked, looking up to Shio as he asked his question. "Around thirty five in the last month. I often help with them, but as you mentioned before, I am a Captain. I'm not always able to do this work." she explained, not commenting on the rest of what he said. Instead, she wrote more down. "Alright, Mister Mora. Since you've decided for a long session, and you are my last appointment of the day, I am able to give you the time you desire."

"You've told me some about your life before the Seireitei. What about after that? Let's see..." she flipped through some of her papers and turned back to him, "What about the Academy? How was your time there? You've got some impressive marks, so the actual studies don't seem to have hindered you... What was your relationship like with students and your instructors?"

Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:01 pm

"The academy was fine."

His answer was lilting, warm, very nearly sung rather than spoken. There was no indication whatsoever as to the churning bile and hatred that was hiding just beneath the surface; Shio had perfected his smile a long time ago, fake or not, and he wasn't going to let it fall just because the wrong question got asked. No, he had already expected something like this. It was a topic that he couldn't exactly -never- discuss, after all, but he couldn't deny it still left his heart feeling like a stone to think about. To realize that he would have to keep feeling this way, for a very long time indeed...

"Just fine. I was the star pupil, and I spent as much of my free time correcting the instructors as I did following through on the lessons of the day."

He sat in silence, drumming fingers on his knees, this time unable to meet her gaze. He maintained the smile, even making a few faint sounds of boredom or uncertainty, before finally glancing towards her. It was time for a distraction, a diversion; some way he could get her to discuss anything besides those days. Those days that still seemed to cast their shadow in his mind, even now.

"Weren't we going to hold this conversation in your office? I'm sure there's someone else who needs this room more."

Tue Dec 12, 2017 4:39 pm

Midori Hayashi

Captain of the Second Division

Midori's pen didn't stop until he questioned the location. She wrote like crazy, to the point where she had almost filled the current page and would soon need another. "You're right." she said and stood up, "Why don't we move this to my office, Mister Mora." Midori gathered the few things she needed, placing a blank paper on top of her notes before heading to the door. She opened the door for him and motioned for him to exit the room. Once he did, she led him through the halls and out of the current building. She technically had three offices: home, Captain, and in the medical building. The Captain's office was much more comfortable and only a short walk away.

"No need to walk in silence." she turned to him with a smile, "So what is your opinion on the outdoors? Do you prefer the comfort of your home?"

Tue Dec 12, 2017 4:49 pm

At this one, Shio had to actually stop, and stare at Midori for a few moments. -Home-? He had grown up in the Rukongai, had spent most of that time trying to get out, and now he stayed in a barracks, with people he had nothing in common with, and spent his every waking moment hoping desperately he hadn't somehow offended unintentionally. He let none of it show, simply canting his eyes up a bit, an expression of wonder or uncertainty creeping across his face, as if he were probing his memory.

"I much enjoy the outdoors, but I think I'd prefer it as a place to visit, not somewhere you spend all of your time. Spoken as someone who's gone running naked through the woods at night, I can tell you there's not much to enjoy there."

Crap crap crap! The last sentence had gotten out before he'd even realized it, and even now he could hear a contented sigh from Taroba, back in the depths of his mind, as he managed a sheepish grin, and a shrug as he returned to walking after her. The miasma of pleasantly scented air continued to follow Shio, brightening up the hallway and ridding it of the scent of antisceptics and illness. It actually made the examination rooms pleasant to be in, for a little bit after his passing.

"That said, I can't deny my room is rather small. It's to be expected, of course. There's a great many people in the Soul Society, and not a great many places to put them."

Tue Dec 12, 2017 5:19 pm

Midori Hayashi

Captain of the Second Division

While they walked, Midori didn't write. This was a moment more for talk than anything else, but she'd still take a mental note of his words and reactions. As they were walking, Midori lightly rubbed her nose and looked down to her coat. She lifted and sniffed it. "That's the second time I've smelled that..." she stopped walking and turned to Shio, realizing where it was coming from, "Oh, it's coming from you. That's a nice scent. I first caught it in the examination room, but it didn't really register in my mind." Midori continued leading him to her office. Soon, the two made it there and she led him inside.

The office was nicely decorated with little ornate things here and there. Midori seemed to have more of a western style, since she had a couch and two chairs for people to sit at. Besides that, there was a large dark colored oak desk in the middle, facing the doorway they came through, and two bookshelves symmetrically places on either side behind the desk.

"Sit down on the chair or couch, where ever you're comfortable." she said and went to sit in the large executive chair behind her desk. She set the clipboard down on the desk and for the first time, looked more relaxed and comfortable. "That's better." she sighed in relief as her small feminine form sunk into the chair, "So, back to it then. I've gotten some about your Academy life, so what about your home life? Things like... friends? Someone close to you? Tell me about that kind of stuff. Do you have anyone like that?"

Tue Dec 12, 2017 5:37 pm

"The smell? Yes, it's rather nice, isn't it? I think it's cucumber and melon this time. I'm not sure what causes it, honestly. I think it's just part of Taroba's doing. When she feels a need to put me or those around me at ease she just..."

All of a sudden, Shio's eyes widened, the blood draining from his face as quickly as if he'd just been struck, or had watched someone he cared deeply for slaughtered. He stood there, just like that, for almost thirty seconds, before a mask of careful neutrality settled over his features, his stance turning textbook perfect; his eyes were now focused on a spot a few inches above Midori's left earlobe, and for all the world Shio looked like a soldier in the midst of a very important and very tedious duty.

"I should be going. I just got a division transfer, you know. It would be unbecoming if I were to slack on my duties so quickly after a change of scenery. I need to get back to the human world and..."

He trailed off at this point, sweat already forming on his brow, his hands glued to his sides as effectively as if by some bakudo. All he could do was keep cursing, over and over, in his own head, as he realized all of a sudden what had happened. He'd come so very close and stopped himself last time, and now he'd said her name. To a captain of the Gotei no less. That meant that there was no possible way he could walk out of this room without it becoming a matter of public record.

For a few fleeting seconds, Shio wondered if she'd intervene, were he to try and kill himself. What a foolish question, of course; this was the medical division. There was no way he'd leave here anything other than whole of body and mind. That meant his only hope was suicide by cop, then. He simply couldn't handle a repeat of the past, yet again.

"Sorry. I have to go."

Tue Dec 12, 2017 6:10 pm

Midori Hayashi

Captain of the Second Division

That change. Midori immediately knew what that meant. Her pen froze at the paper and she looked up to him, seeing that massive tension build up within him. Midori knew he was going to try and leave. She listened to the excuse he gave and set the pen down, leaning back in her chair to watch him. She saw the sweat in his brow, the fear in his eyes, the stiffness of his body. He wanted nothing more than to flee, but she wouldn't allow it.

"Shio." she used his first name for once, "I won't write it down."

Midori stared directly in his eyes, easily able to tell he was avoiding her gaze. She waited for his reaction to not writing down what she just learned. His panic worried her; letting him leave now was not a responsible thing to do.

Tue Dec 12, 2017 6:28 pm

"You'll know."

There was so much weariness in the words, so much agony and fatigue. He sounded like a man who had just lost a loved one, or knew he was about to be executed. There was nothing but a flat resignation in his tone now, a cold finality that seemed to imply emotion was now an irrelevance. He simply walked towards the nearest chair, sitting in it, and then staring at the wall. He seemed content to sit there the entire day; his hands slipped into his lap, his face as expressionless as wax as he spoke, in a tone that hung in the air like a lead weight.

"I don't want to discuss this anymore. Declare me unfit for duty. Have me court martialled. I've already accepted my fate. Just...let me have my peace, please. I don't want to answer any more questions, or come back here again."

One almost could've believed he'd become a statue, as he stared very quietly, without any motion whatsoever, at the wall in front of him.

Tue Dec 12, 2017 6:49 pm

Midori Hayashi

Captain of the Second Division

"I don't have to do that, but if you choose to walk out that door, I'll have no choice. Declaring you unfit for duty is... the last thing I'd want to do. If you choose to stay, that's a perfect reason for your secret to stay what it is... Shio, first off, I need you to try and calm down. I do not know why you're so worried about people knowing your secret, but it will not leave this room unless the safety of others is threatened, which I have to assume it will be if you leave. Unless that occurs, your secret is safe and you'll have little to worry about."

Midori let that sink in, hoping it'd help to relax him. She was a woman of her word, so he wouldn't have to worry. "So, Shio, do you feel comfortable enough to share why you're adamant on keeping such a gift a secret? What is it that you fear? Why do you prefer staying where you are?"

Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:18 pm

Shio still couldn't find it in himself to look towards her, or even to offer a real answer. He simply stared at the wall with even greater intensity, hands clenching tightly and expressions of pain sliding across his face, over and over, as he seemed lost in his own little world. He closed his eyes for a few long moments, and the moment he did he could feel Taroba trying to reach out; for a second he could feel her hand gently caressing his cheek, cradling him as one would a crying child. And then, all at once, in a moment of absolute rage, he flung her, screaming in injustice, into the deepest pits of his mind. He could understand now, just how much she had manipulated him from the very moment he'd stepped into the room.

And now when his eyes opened, there was that same old, nameless plodding beast, something that needed no justification for itself, no explanation, behind his eyes. He still didn't make any move to vacate the seat, but he let out a derisive, almost mocking laugh, and then shook his head.

"You're the expert, Captain. If anyone's qualified to figure it out, it's you."