Outside (Laskt/Hanako)

One more pull-up...and down again.

Hanako just hung on the branch for a moment, feeling how the muscles in her shoulders stretched.

'Damn, I forgot to count. Again.'

Before she could try and remember how many pull-ups she had done she heard a familiar voice with a certain, flowing accent. There was only one person she knew who spoke this way.
She dropped to the ground and turned towards the Third Seat. Hanako knew Laskt practically since her first days in the Gotei. After she had graduated she had participated in some sketchy tryouts of the former Captain of the Fourth Division. Hanako hadn't given up the tryouts, but her choice to join the Fourth, at that time, and transferred over to the First. Laskt had also been there and it seemed he had stayed in the Division afterwards. Which was a reason why it always confused Hanako why Laskt wasn't a Lieutenant? Yoshitsune had said from the beginning he wanted two Lieutenants and Laskt was already Third Seat, so, why not? He had said that there were some...problems the man had to deal with. Who didn't? Hanako herself had quite some baggage to carry around.

"Laskt." Shesaid, bowing slightly to a colleague and brother in arms. She had chosen a more familiar form of address because...quite frankly, she had trouble pronouncing his family name. Another detail that was lost to Hanako was her roots in the world of the living: Although probably not of pure japanese heritage, she was born and raised in that country and european languages had never been very easy on japanese tongues.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t come here for solitude.” she said and smiled a small smile. She worked on that…
‘I had enough solitude to last me a lifetime.’ she thought, although maybe not fully on a conscious level.

“I only wanted to escape the busy Seireitei for a while and I like forests, that is all. You have every right to be here as you please.”

She made a defensive gesture with a hand.

“Also...please...no titles. It seems like we’re both off duty. I’m not even wearing my Shihakusho.” she said and looked down at her somewhat skimpy outfit. In fact, her clothing consisted only of two pieces. She wasn’t even wearing shoes.
“I’m still not used to the position.” she added, with her usual crooked grin.

The grin faded away slowly when some of the paperwork she had been doing the last few days floated by before her inner eye.

“Wait a minute, shouldn’t you still be recuperating? Yes, I’m quite sure that there was a report from the Medical Division, a very long report, with Division members that were ordered to rest. I am sure your name was on the list.”

Her tone wasn’t really suited to scold her comrade. She actually could understand him pretty well and was neither able, nor willing, to prevent it showing in her voice. However, there was a bit of concern. The strain of the recent past had been extraordinary and Laskt and his company had always been the vanguard.