Two Bright Stars (Yuujin/Yugiri)

His gaze, lost in the horizon, watched the endless spread of desert. Using the pretense of guard duty, he escaped from having to rest with the others. He'd much rather be alone right now, just him and his thoughts. Besides, Yuujin's never been the friendly sort. Life's always been a roller coaster of give and take for him, the consequences of being born in a Noble bloodline. However, lately, life's been focused on only taking. The tough and rough life, despite being free, proved somewhat claustrophobic. All the space in the world, yet he still feels confined. The new woman in the party doesn't help.

Though, the night sky is pretty nice out here. Away from the city, one can actually make out the stars, count them even. It helps with his little issue with needing something to occupy his physical body while his mind wanders. Still, there's a lot on his mind, a lot to work out.

"Haven't fallen asleep yet?"

Yugiri asked from a couple of metres away, he looked like he was easy to sneak up on. Her reiatsu suppressed and her own mastery of the step methods of Hoho, specifically the Muon Satsujin which involved the steps of the user drawing in the sound rather than allowing it to escape and be heard by others. The perfect technique for making the user able to soundlessly move about an area .

The vizard strolled a bit closer while her long silvery hair trailed behind at her ankles as a veil, she hadn't bothered to cut it after trying to restrain Shaoling in their fight. When she got close enough the tanned woman took a seat next to him and pulled her knees up close to join him in stargazing.

It was hard to sleep when her mind wouldn't stop replaying the events of her fight. Every little detail burned into her memory to be reviewed again and again for the sake of finding every little lapse on her performance. What a shameful performance she kept thinking to herself even if Shaoling had praised her growth.

"This ain't an all you can eat buffet. Go back to sleep, Giri."

He didn't give her a look, his gaze still focused far away. The point of thinking alone is to be alone, so he'd have preferred such, but he didn't give her anymore heckling besides that. She is, after all, a fellow disgraced Noble. He knows enough about her: the family issues, the rumors around her birth parents, her banishment. Being a Noble is annoying mainly because of all the talking and backstabbing. Now, he's forced to swallow that she's going to just be here from now on. What place does he have to argue though? He's the weakest out of the three. He's the newest, the outlier.

Now, he's getting to the meat of his own mental discourse.

"Giri... Oh my, couldn't you have at least used Yugirin?"

Admittedly bringing up Kokoro's name that she had given her with made her feel a little twang of pain. She hated that she'd taken for granted all the times that the eager and doting little relative which was the closest thing to a little sister she had would want for her attention and she tried to get away. There was also that other thing but made her feel a little uncomfortable to recall but that would never ever reach beyond those two if she could help it.

"Heh... Anyway how'd you end up with teach?"

This was kind of awkward as her finger scratched at her cheek, she could definitely tell that he would rather be alone and she'd act like she was here for his sake but really it was for her own. Just a little selfish of her really.

"...Because I annoyed her enough."

He didn't really want to tell her and debated on if he should. Hell, his response probably would come off as a bit of a joke, but that's how it actually happened. He barged in, acted like hot shit, taunted her ego, and now he's here. However, what has he learned since then? He's been so focused on following her words that he hasn't gotten far with his own. He's gotten stronger, but he's also gotten nowhere. It forced his eyes onto Yugiri, looking her over, take in her presence. His skeptical gaze lingered on what he found interesting: her scars, the tone of her muscles, her refined skill.

"I saw your fight."

There was something about the response that was just casual enough that she smirked but she believed it entirely, maybe because she hated that she'd have probably been the same although she's a bit unsure of it. Maybe she'd have just tossed a coin to determine if she'd have told the kid to beat it or agree to train him.

Her smile quickly vanished when he brought having seen her fight like lemon juice was just put on her wounded pride and her head slumped a bit more into her knees which would probably look a lot more comfortable if she were a cat putting its head into its forelegs but she hadn't changed into a cat lately at all. No reason to.

"...Hmm?"

Yugiri was a bit curious as to where he was going with that, Yuujin's quirky way of stating things and not following up on them was a bit endearing to her.

"...I'm glad no one was hurt too much."

Strange for him to seem entirely absentminded, but then drop something caring and careless like that. Of course, after seeing Erika and Shaoling after their little scuffle, it simply made sense that he had held his breath during Yugiri's bout with his teacher. If needed, he was prepared to blow his cover and take care of them both. Though, he's not that bad at reading the room to not see how him mentioning the fight dropped her mood. He's always surrounded by the prideful type, huh?

"You're strong, way stronger than me. No point moping about losing though. Just wake up the next day and do better. That's what I expect from my sister student at least, and I'm sure Shaoling expects nothing less."

Words of encouragement? It's enough to make him feel ill. He had no choice but to turn his head back to the stars because he sure as Hell didn't want Yugiri seeing him feeling a bit nervous. However, his words were just as much for himself as they were for her. There's no point in moping, huh? He just has to try just harder to reach his own breakthrough.

"Huh. I guess you're right, she'd probably make me fight her again if she saw me moping... I think, she's a bit different from when I saw her last."

Yugiri pouted to herself while thinking about that, seeing her old teacher now compared to back then made her wonder. Was it the Onmitsukido? Yuujin? Maybe both since that's all she could figure off the top of her head. Onmitsukido... She wondered had she convinced Abalia back then and not been banished would Shaoling be back there, would she still be the stuffy noble that she was?

"Hey Yuujin, why'd you leave Soul Society? Rare to see a plus willingly go to the World of the Living."

She did have an interest in him, after all he was the mystery factor of the group to her. She knew herself and Shaoling but not him.

"Ah... I guess you don't know that I'm also a Noble, but I think that's probably enough to answer your question. Just think about how you felt, being away from all of that."

She knows about the troubles of being a Noble. Despite all the benefits, it's simply not for everyone. However, he doesn't want to go into any specifics, even if they'd find similarities and bond over them. He'd rather bond over their positives then over how troubled a life they had before coming to Earth. Besides, they're both happier now. Let's leave this night with a bit more optimism.

"Now, keep your chin up, woman. I'm definitely not going to be a shoulder for you to cry on whenever you're feeling a bit down. Stay in the mud for too long, and I'll surpass you."

"Hey."

Keeping her voice a little hushed to not disturb their teacher who she suspected probably wasn't even sleeping at the moment, Yugiri's arm struck out and yanked him into an headlock. Yugiri didn't need any shoulder to cry on and also there was no way that he'd surpass her, she was after all going to be the fastest person in the entire universe be they human, shinigami or the like.

"Surpass me one day. Is that so, huh?"

She teased while playfully keeping him trapped for a little longer as she pondered the way his peculiar attitude towards things had a weird way of being pretty encouraging even if he didn't mean it. What a strange charisma.