Where in the World is Raikutsune no Miko? [Liana/Tomoe]

Tomoe couldn't help but find the scenery amusing as they passed through it. All those squadmates practicing in unison, honing their skills through practice, and the birds and crickets chirping together... Ah, how mundane. Such uniformity was understandable in the grand scheme of things, but she couldn't help but feel like she had been here before even though she hadn't. That was how cliché this whole scene was. Tomoe felt bad just being here, but it was a matter of business, not leisure.

After being led inside and offered a Katana by the quartermaster, Tomoe lifted it up, drew it to test the weight of the blade, then with a light flourishing twirl sheathed it again and promptly signed the release papers for it. "It's about as close to Miko as I could hope for." She chimed with a light, amused huff. Miko would hate being compared to a basic sword such as this, but that made it all the more amusing in Tomoe's head when she imagined the look on her zanpakuto spirit's face. Tomoe couldn't stop the satisfied smirk slowly dawning on her face as she slipped her sheathed rental in the obi of her outfit.

After that, the violet shinigami obediently followed as she was beckoned into another room. Dummies lined it and she was offered a moment to practice her swings, though Tomoe seemed more interested in the idea of showing off her kido. Not because she really wanted to, but just the sheer idea of 'showing off' implied there was something special for her to share with her Captain. Sure enough, there was, but Tomoe had to stop and think if that was the right thing to share with Liana. A moment of silence passed as she looked into her Captain's eyes curiously, as if she was searching for something. A million things raced through her head as she considered 'showing off' for real even though it would probably contradict her earlier attempts to keep all these secrets to herself.

"Okay, but you have to promise me something, Captain. No- promise me something... as Liana." Of course Tomoe knew her Captain's name. It wasn't as if that was private knowledge.

"Listen to us chant this Kido, think about it, and then never speak on it again." Said the normally playful woman in a very deadpan tone of voice. The look in Tomoe's eyes had also swapped from curiosity to absolute sternness.

Turning towards the dummies, Tomoe lifted a hand and parted her lips to speak a chant, and what followed sounded unimaginable.

"ˡ̵Y̷̷ͦe̵̶ͬ,̵̵ͩ ̶M̴̴ͦᶠ̴a̶s̸̸ͣᶰ̷k̴̶ͩ ̶ᶠ̸b̵ˡ̸l̴̸ͤˢ̴o̸̴ͪo̴d̸̵ͨ ̶̸ͬa̷̸ͤl̷̵ͣl̵̶ͭ,̷̸ͥ ̶̶ͦᶰ̵f̶l̸̴ͦᶠ̷u̵ʷ̶t̵̵ͥᶰ̷t̶ᵍ̷e̴ˢ̷r̸ᵇ̴,̶̵ͤ ̴̸ͣy̵̴ͬˢ̵e̵ ̸̷ͭw̸̴ͪh̶̶ͤo̴ ̷̶ͦᶠ̸n̵a̸̵ͫm̶̷ͣᶰ̴e̶,̷̷ͭ ̵̴ͤG̶̴ͫᵖ̷i̶̶ͤˢ̴l̵̷ͭd̷e̶̶ͦᶠ̷d̴,̷̶ͥˢ̷ ̵̴ͪi̷̸ͣᶰ̷n̸̴ͣs̶ʸ̷c̶̶ͦr̵̵ͧi̶̷ͬb̸ᶰ̶e̷̸ͣ ̵̵ͫt̷̴ͤh̷e̵̵ͣ ̴̸ͫw̴̴ͦᶰ̶i̸ᵍ̴n̴ˢ̷d̶̸ͭs̵.̶"

There was the unmistakable underlying sound of Tomoe's voice, but layered over it were two more. The first sounded like a woman, though it was very clear that wasn't just another Tomoe. The third voice could barely be considered as such. If there were words, they were incomprehensible. Instead, there was a noise that could only be described as garbled, membrane permeating static whose shape of words could be felt in the depths of Liana's mind. If it had a sensation, there was no real description other than cold and angular. It didn't hurt, though.

And from there, Tomoe fired a single full incantation Nenshōrai from the palm of her hand. A bolt of unstable pale lightning was fired forth and exploded on impact with one of the dummies.

The chant itself took much less time than if she had done it herself. But with the assistance of Miko and Mugen, she only had to say a third of the words while they filled in the gaps for her. None of the three chanters had spoken the same part, rather split the chant among the three of them to reduce the time. How it really worked, she didn't know, but Mugen seemed to be reason she could do this in the first place, and she didn't exactly understand Mugen itself, so...

And so upon turning to look Liana in the eyes once more, Tomoe huffed in frustration and regret.

"I shouldn't have shown you that, but... I don't want you to distrust me too much. Though I realize now I've probably not helped that in the slightest. I just..." Tomoe bit her lip and looked off to the ground in thought for a moment. "...Just don't want to explain something that might have me accused of being a problem."

'However much more you are'. Why did that make Tomoe feel so... gross? Was this guilt? She felt like in a way, she was almost leading her captain on to thinking there was something more dangerous here. Or maybe Mugen was dangerous and she just didn't know? Tomoe didn't know how to really feel about that. In the end, it was all things she had to keep under wraps for the time being.

"Perhaps if we were a little closer then I'd be more comfortable sharing these things. I haven't... really told anyone about it. It will most likely stay that way for a good while. I don't struggle with it so much, either. Not like some others. It's more like an inconvenience than anything. A severe one, but nothing much more. At least, not yet... But I appreciate the concern regardless, of course."

What was she even supposed to say now? After showing her Captain even the slightest glimpse of the 'thing' poking at her head and watching through her eyes, she felt quite awkward. Where do you even go from here? Tomoe seemed to fidget awkwardly in place for a moment before a quiet, unsure offer was spoken out. Not because she particularly wanted it, but because she just felt bad now.

"W-Well, I suppose if there's nothing else to do, then... would you like some tea? Or, I mean, well... if you're busy then maybe at a later date?"

Absolutely fucking smooth.

"Ah, right..."

Tomoe couldn't help but be a little awkward after such a thing. As strange as it felt getting to finally show another living being even a tease of what she dealt with in her head, she couldn't help but also be worried that it was a step too far. Or that perhaps she had just contradicted her own attempts at keeping this all a secret. Nonetheless though, if she wanted to keep her job and maybe have a proper roof over her head for once instead of holding out in the wilderness, then maybe this was the right move to keep her place in the Gotei? Now she was just feeling nothing but regret.

"Right, I forgot for a moment I'm talking to my own Captain. I apologize sincerely for taking so much of your time. I hope that I can make it up to you in the future."

Tomoe recomposed herself just enough to regain some of her formality once more. Yes, a later date. She wouldn't count on it with how busy she imagined Liana was, but it could prove interesting to just sit and chat with someone as unique as a captain.
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