Graceful and Grateful(Hime/Hanako)

Observing her expression, Hime had thoughtfully concluded that she possessed quite the beautiful smile. It was such a natural and contented reaction that Hime felt a sense of contentment herself. Her expression soon changed from satisfied to focused in a matter of moments as she recounted the events of her heralding event. The first red flag that stood out is that, as Hanako said, no one knew anything about the Shinigami she had set out on a mission with. That was no particular surprise, considering how many soul reapers were joining divisions by the days.

It was a difficult task to have each of them filed away and situated. No one could know every single of every single shinigami. However, for the higher-ups, there was no way registry on them shouldn't appear. There thousands of files on Shinigami, from past to present. Some were detailed while others were curt and to the point. There was no way this shinigami was not in the registry but then... the story became even more complex.


She recounted her confrontation with the hollows she had spoken of from earlier. Fighting two of them, she said, she managed to kill one and was prepared to finish off the other until... dozens came. Hime was taken aback as she listened to Hanako speak about the pain she felt at being ripped and torn apart, piece by piece, not even allowed a peaceful death.

This, too, was odd, considering the fact that Hanako still lived and roamed freely. Her body appeared real, she seemed entirely physical, and there was no suspicious activity that would make Hime believe Hanako was a clone or some type of illusion.



An explanation was provided as she spoke about how none of it seemed real at all and that someone was playing tricks on her mind. She concluded that she had found the hollows burning down a village. And like that, it was over. Everything seemed as it had been recounted from a dream and she was alone. Nothing was present except the ruins of a village from years ago and a piece of paper Hanako revealed to Hime. On one side, there was a kanji for Hanako's name and on the other...


Teke. Barghest. Gashadokura. Ningen. Draugr. Alp.


Each seemed to match a mythological creature. By now, Hime had concluded that this was no ordinary happenstance and Hanako's account of what happened certainly needed to be looked into.

There was no way this was merely a dream. Could it have been an enemy trap? What clues could she find beyond these names? Hime pondered each thought before she took a solemn nod and placed her empty lunchbox to the side.

"It was difficult to properly follow everything that you said but based on all the clues and explanations provide before me, this is no matter to be brushed off. If you so desire, Hanako, I will help you look into the origin behind these names and find out if there was any foul play at work - the deception of shinigami for example - or if there is more to those hollows than meets the eyes. If you have any other explanations to provide, then feel free to report back to me with what you found."