The Two Paths [Murasaki, Erika]

Stepping into Erika’s office was always something of a mixed bag for Murasaki. She liked to keep things upbeat as a bit of a natural balance to how dour Erika was, but at the same time, she knew her vice captain wasn’t exactly the sort to enjoy an overly peppy approach. Come in too cheerful and it’d probably just put her in a mood, even if she’d never admit it. Plus, Murasaki was coming in for an actual serious matter, so she definitely wasn’t trying to annoy her today.

“Hey hey, Erika. Mind if I ask you a favor?”

Well, it was still remarkably casual, but that was just the way Murasaki spoke to a friend when it was only the two of them. She did go out of her way to be much more professional when they were in public, at least. Despite her girlish manner, she went out of her way to be a fairly traditional Captain Commander. Professional, dignified, all of that. She even enforced the dress code, at least to some degree. She’d never have it in her to outright ban personal expression in outfits, of course.

“I need some refreshers on kido. I haven’t really used it since I was in the academy and sayin’ I’m rusty would be kind of an understatement.”

Erika looked up from her desk which was unusually clear given she kept her paperwork often clumped up in various spots but she had made space to place the asauchi she had taken despite the fact it was quite useless to someone like her. In exchange for the power to create anything she had closed the pathway before her but she wondered about that. Her teacher's teachings were his own limitations and she decided that things like that should be cleaved through and a path be made. If her katanakaji was flawed in such a manner then she'd create something superior to it and claim that instead.

Even if she could not imprint on the asauchi, she had never actually tried to commune with one. She'd seen that they certainly had form based on her time up above which begged the question that if she performed jinzen could she not do the same. Alas it was so annoying to try because it just meant she'd have the bitch in her head pester her with taunts and nonstop distractions which she had to push to the back of her mind. If she couldn't commune with it there was the other thought of considering it as a catalyst but that would probably involve needing to create something along the same lines but empty and able to be filled like water into a cup.

"Asking for favours isn't necessary."

She said while giving the sword another look as she contemplated Murasaki's 'favour' with her normal scowl which her captain should be plenty aware of by now was just her resting bitch face. After a moment to think about her own troubles and Murasaki's she looked back up and answered.

"We can fix that. It shouldn't be that hard if the basics can come back to you."

“Well, even if it’s not necessary, it’s still polite, right?”

Murasaki naturally noticed the asauchi on Erika’s desk, but she opted not to ask about it quite yet. She knew it wasn’t exactly Erika’s style to just talk about stuff if she wasn’t quite ready yet, and while Murasaki might have been a talkative girl, that wasn’t the same thing as prying into people’s business. Honestly, she hated people like that, ya know?

“Yeah, I don’t think it should be super hard for me to pick it back up, I just don’t really remember a lot of the specifics. Mom taught me a little about it before I came down, and I did fine in my classes. It wasn’t really somethin’ I ever used too much, but I think I’d be a pretty lousy Captain Commander if I can’t be an example in every shinigami art.”

Despite her own personal disinterest in kido, she really couldn’t keep ignoring it as a part of her job, or the organization she led. If anything, she probably should have started learning this back when she’d first become a captain. But she couldn’t go back and change it now, so better to just get started.

Did she prefer Murasaki asking her politely or just saying so? It was difficult since frankly Murasaki should assume the answer is yes and she'll make it quite apparent her feelings on the matter. Lying was not her forte and anyone that engaged in manipulation or deceit was less deserving of respect. Though she supposed it was a little hypocritical of her to be angry at Murasaki's genuine behaviour which could create a situation of distrust based on a misconception.

Talking with people was always so exhausting. She didn't get how people could find the company of others to be relaxing and invigouring but enough idle thoughts.

"That's right."

Erika did admonish her a little bit in the way that she was always critical, too critical really, of everyone around her and the person she respected as captain earned even higher expectations than the others.

"Let's begin then, observe me and then try it."

She raised her hand to lazily held out towards Murasaki before demonstrating a kido spell that she had not spoken the incantation of in quite some time.

""Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini. Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat. Bakudou Number 9 - Geki."

As she finished the incantation Murasaki would have the sensation of a thick red reiatsu manifesting around her and trying to completely paralyse her. Being able to use her captain to demonstrate was convenient when the reiatsu difference between them was more than enough to shatter the spell on her own.

Yep, that was definitely a kido alright, and one Murasaki recognized almost immediately upon it being cast. Even if she hadn’t used it herself in centuries, it was hard to forget something quite this striking and, for that matter, with such a weirdly menacing incantation. Then again, a lot of kido seemed like they were pretty menacing if you just went by the incantations. Weird. Before the spell was able to actually paralyze her, Murasaki flexed her reiatsu just enough to break it, shaking her hands out a bit to remove any lingering odd feeling.

“Alright…”

Holding out her hand, Murasaki’s expression grew more serious, and she earnestly focused on the spell she was casting. She might have taken a lot of her other efforts pretty casually, but when she was seriously trying to learn, she’d only give her best.

“Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini. Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat. Bakudou Number 9: Geki!”

While most might have imagined the spell would come out effortlessly from a shinigami of Murasaki’s caliber, the rust was fairly apparent in her effort, and she doubted it could have even held half the seated officers in the Gotei, let alone her own vice captain as it formed around Erika. Still, it was something, at least.

While Erika could've reciprocated and immediately shattered the kido spell before it had formed given the fact it didn't take much more than a glance to figure that the Geki's decent manifestation was probably more inclined to be a result of the amount of reiatsu that Murasaki had than any kind of talent. Not that there was anything wrong with it but she remained sitting there with the red aura that held her in the same spot for a little longer to let Murasaki analyse her own result.

Then she dispelled it and the red glow she had was parted down the middle by her own iridescent reiatsu before dispersing like it had been cut in half by her reiatsu and fell to the wayside before disappearing.

"Well, you can still perform kido but the shape is lacking, the spell is filled with weaknesses to exploit and... Ah, whatever you can do it at least."

Erika thought she was being a bit too harsh if she tore into Murasaki over something like this. The frustrating memories of her past bubbling up to the surface of how Tsu corrected her own mistakes. It wasn't by putting her down and listing every single error in quick succession.

"We can go practice elsewhere if you want."

“Well, I didn’t really expect it to be perfect or anything, even if I did give it my best. Just because I knew it before, that doesn’t really mean casting it again is just gonna be a walk in the park. Besides, I wasn’t ever a prodigy in kido or anything, so it’s not like it nailed itself all in my head.”

Murasaki wasn’t defending her own incompetence in this particular field or anything, far from it in fact. She knew that having become Captain Commander without knowing much beyond the absolute basics in any shinigami art bordered on the intolerable, but she hadn’t exactly campaigned for the job and said she was completely ready for it just yet. Her kido was subpar, she knew that, that’s why she was here. Even if Erika didn’t want to just lay into her, she knew it was probably pretty deserved.

“Somewhere else works for me. Where’re you thinkin’? Just one of the practice grounds, or were you wanting to get really out of the way? I can do either.”

Honestly, Murasaki had spent so much time cooped up in her office, and here in the Seireitei, that she’d have killed to actually get out and go somewhere else. But she knew this was part of the job, and she’d accepted it knowing that, so she wasn’t gonna complain.

The vice-captain stood up and grabbed the asauchi off the desk before fixing it to her side and starting to leave the desk. Murasaki's question didn't even need her to think about it before she gave an answer for her superior. Her facing Fuuen in one of the training grounds didn't bother her, even had she lost to him in that bout. She refused to let her the rumours spread of her captain practicing kido basics begin to emanate throughout the Soul Society though.

"Somewhere out of the way."

Erika stepped past and waited at the door. There was only one place she really knew of that was out of the way, what state it was even in nowadays was up for debate but the idea of going there was enough to give her nausea at the memories. So she waited for Murasaki to take the lead since she sounded like she had somewhere in mind.

“Okidoke, sounds good to me. Haven’t taken a trip down to Earth in a while, and I know my usual little training spot’s way outside anyone’s radar. Especially since…”

Ah, right. Murasaki didn’t exactly want to just talk about what had happened to China in the past few months, at least from her perspective. Even if she hadn’t had a little talk with the Zero Division about it, she wouldn’t exactly have been the type to just blab about it to people who didn’t know. It was pretty weird, after all, and not in a fun way.

“Anyway, we can senkaimon right on down to Mongolia, I know a spot where nobody’ll bother us. I’d pack for a camping trip, but we won’t be gone that long, right?”

Admittedly, she’d have liked it if they were, but she knew that was impractical.

"We'll spend as much time down there as it takes to refresh yourself."

Erika responded, really it was up to how long Murasaki would take to be competent at kido that determined how long they'd be. The small blonde following her giant superior while mulling over things to herself, she was thinking about kido and trying to remember the learning strategies that were used for novices.

"I will meet you at the senkaimon shortly, I'm going to alert the Third Seat of our absence."