A Humble Request [Mizu, Urahara]

Despite always making herself available for those around her, Mizu was not entirely comfortable asking others for favors. While she could hardly be called too prideful, the golden eyed Shinigami had garnered a reputation as a problem solver thanks to her focused work ethic. Outside of organizing others she rarely had to ask for assistance, and even more rarely requested help with a personal problem; yet here she found herself, anxiously walking the halls of Division 3's Barracks to do just that.

After a long trek through the division's headquarters Mizu came to an abrupt stop in front of a particular door with a particular name plate to it's side. Captain Urahara Kisuke...one of the greatest, most accomplished and intelligent Shinigami ever...Mizu what are you doing!! To call the little Shinigami nervous would be a drastic understatement. More than perhaps any of her comrades in the Gotei, Mizu found herself weak at the knees when it came to legendary Shinigami and figures from Soul Society's history and Urahara Kisuke was no exception.

Mizu forced herself to raise her fist to the closed office's door and remained still as a statue for what felt like a century before finally, and excruciatingly, she knocked on the solid wood with a barely-perceptible Rap, Rap, Rap. He's just a person...he's just a person...don't freak out...!

Kisuke waited patiently on the other side of that door, arms folded in front of him as he gazed at it curiously. He could sense that there was someone on the other side, waiting, but perhaps they were nervous. If he opened the door himself it might spook them, so he decided to simply wait for them to build up the courage on their own. It was an admirable thing, to come to bother a Captain of the Gotei, even if he had gone out of his way to make himself as available as possible to his comrades. The knocking against the wood was quiet, gentle even, but he heard it clear enough.

"Come in, come in. Oh, and shut the door behind you."

An eyebrow was already cocked in Mizu's direction when she entered, the faintest hint of a smile upon his face as he tried to gauge exactly who she was and what she wanted. The room was almost entirely bare, save for the most minimal of furnishings. A desk, some chairs, a computer facing Urahara with the screen entirely hidden from view, and little else besides the man himself. What surprise she might have was ignored for now, as Kisuke tried to cut to the chase by locking her down with a gaze of grey that wandered across her frame.

"Captain Urahara, at your service. What can I do for you today, Miss ..?"

A shiver went down Mizu's spine as she heard the Captain speak from behind his office door. The things she had read and heard about this man could be compiled into textbooks, and all were tales of unimaginable genius Mizu could not relate to or fully understand. His achievements during the great war with the traitorous Sosuke Aizen alone were legendary, and here he was with only a door separating him from her. With a deep breath she accepted his invitation and stepped through the door, shutting it behind her as asked of her.

His office resembled her own in it's simplicity, with little to no decorations adorning it's walls. Still, even compared to hers it was bare. Maybe he just didn't care for that kind of thing, she thought. When he asked her purpose for being there Mizu felt his eyes scanning her, no doubt absorbing information she wouldn't even think to consider. With a deep bow at the waist she responded to the man she greatly respects "I-I am called Morikawa Mizu, 5th Seat of the 8th Division, C-captain Urahara-sama. Please excuse my selfish purpose but I am here to ask a favor...I was hoping you could help solve a problem I have been dealing with, s-sir." She found herself unsure of whether to further explain, worried she may be turned down with nothing to offer in return.

Since his return to the Gotei, Kisuke had been treated in many different ways. Some tried to be casual, others unassuming, though it was more common that they acted with trepidation. Tales of his deeds had been recorded in the annals of history, and even his best attempts to play them down had not stopped him from gaining this frightening reputation. Still, that was why he now operated as he did. Taking on all manner of requests from whoever came to his door as a good Captain would.

"Miss Mizu then. Welcome, welcome. So, I assume this is a grave problem given that it has led to you coming here. Please, elaborate."

There was little more he could offer at this point, though a hand did wave over in the direction of chairs and invited Mizu to sit. Sometimes problems could be solved with a few frank words from a different perspective, but he did have an inkling that this was something a little more demanding.

With perhaps much more anxious speed than she had meant to, Mizu immediately took up Urahara's offer and sat across from him. "G-grave?! Heavens no, Captain Urahara-sama! It's nothing that severe. It's just a selfish request for a battle aid of sorts." Years of obsessive studying and what amounts to fandom of legendary Shinigami like him could not be assuaged quick enough for her to not continue acting like a deer in headlights. Still, she wanted to get to the crux of the matter so as to not take up any more of his time than necessary.

"I-I was hoping you could help me with an issue I keep running into on the battlefield, Captain Urahara-sama. I rely a lot on Kidō when I fight, not that I am a great practitioner, certainly not anywhere close to your ability Captain Urahara-sama, and I know maybe I should just get better at the other pillars of Zankensoki, though I do train a lot, though obviously not enough or else I would not be here today taking up your very important time, maybe if I was training right now this wouldn't be a problem, I'm really sorry I shouldn't even be asking this of you....um...where was I?"

With a deep breath Mizu did her best to stop speaking a mile a minute and get back on track. "In essence my knowledge and skill has surpassed my ability to actually cast spells. I can cast some high numbered spells, and use multiple spells in conjunction with each other, and even create original spells, but I've always grown horrendously slowly and so my spiritual energy reserves are still minor...and probably always will be. The idea in my head, which is probably really stupid and naïve, is an energy bank of sorts I could fill when not fighting so when I do fight I have extra reserves for casting spells. Does...does that seem possible, Captain Urahara-sama?"

With his hands neatly interlocked before him, Kisuke listened quite earnestly as Mizu reeled off her whole situation. He began to lean back in his chair, letting it recline as he pushed back and considered what exactly was being proposed here, and what the underlying problem was. He allowed himself a little smirk at the mention of his own competency, enough to perhaps encourage his visitor that she was on the right track.

"Your knowledge and skill have surpassed your ability? An interesting predicament for a budding spellcaster to find themselves in. Would you believe me if I told you that there was another struggling Shinigami that suffered such a problem in his youth?"

He rocked forwards, his hands breaking apart as he began to fumble along the underside of his desk. Finding their intended target, there was a click as the far wall of the office suddenly opened up to reveal an ominous staircase descending down into seeming darkness. Standing now, Kisuke moved towards the secret passage and was already beginning to shuffle Mizu onwards quite quickly after she had just gotten settled in a chair.

"You speak favourably about your own abilities, but I would be quite foolish to simply take such comments at face value. So, I'll need to see what you can do with my own two eyes. Then, perhaps, we can talk about giving you an energy bank of sorts."

A man once a Captain, banished for saving his compatriots, who fought the mightiest and most terrifying foe Soul Society possibly ever had, and redeemed himself because of it. A true legend. And now, if Mizu understood correctly, he was subtly comparing her to himself. Her. Morikawa Mizu. A perennial loser who had struggled her entire life just to meet the baseline expectations of being a Shinigami. She knew he obviously did not mean the comparison to be about their skill levels, but nonetheless Mizu could feel her heart beating in her throat.

Nearly as big a surprise as being compared to Urahara Kisuke came a moment later when a hidden staircase revealed itself on one of his office walls. With no resistance Mizu was quickly shuffled toward and down it. If she knew nothing about this man she might fear for her own safety given these strange events unfolding, but as he spoke she was assured he simply wanted to test her. One thing he said stood out to her though, and she nervously responded as they descended the almost-sinister staircase "I-I did not mean to speak favorably of myself Captain Urahara-sama. I don't think I'm particularly skilled, I-I just know I'm too weak to do what I think I can do!"

That disarmingly pleasant grin only seemed to grow as Mizu unpicked his incredibly unsubtle metaphor. He had assumed that the comparison to his younger self would draw such a reaction, of course, so there was a certain amount of satisfaction to be had in picking her apart with a few stray words. Not that Kisuke had any malicious intent, that would be far too obtuse, but he did enjoy catching people off guard from time to time. Letting her take the lead down the stairs, it did seem like there was an eventual light at the end of this descent.

"Pride is not a colour that you should taint yourself with often, but do not sell yourself too short. There are few that would have the motivation to stand where you are now, fewer still that would have the confidence to ask for more." His sage wisdom ended abruptly, as he clapped her on the shoulder suddenly before darting past and rushing down ahead of her. "Come on then, I can't help but feel excited."

In a blur of black and white, the Captain disappeared off into the distance and gave Mizu a minute or two to compose herself - the length of which would largely depend on the speed at which she chose to pursue him.

Eventually, though, the tunnel did appear to be coming to an end as the light grew both larger and brighter until, finally, Mizu could see into the space within. A vast underground training area sprawled out before her, the stairs continuing to run from the ceiling to the ground whilst the landscape seemed to stretch for further than she could see even at this elevated position. Waiting below, and surrounded now by several different devices that he was busying himself with, was Kisuke. A smile still remained ever present on his face, as he twisted knobs and punched in inputs on keyboards. Grey eyes widened a little as he cupped a hand around his mouth and called out to her.

"When you're ready, Miss Mizu, I think I've gotten everything just about set up!"

The circumstances with which Mizu found herself descending a staircase to a secret lair/training area with the great Urahara Kisuke was dreamlike to the stunned blond. As a child she had longingly dreamt up scenarios involving just this kind of thing, though not all of them included Urahara; some included captain Unohana, or Kuchiki Rukia, or most commonly, her older brother Byakuya. This was why she took as much of the allotted time to collect herself as she could before continuing towards the light Urahara had gone to.

Mizu rubbed her eyes with her closed fists as she tried taking in the well and truly massive cavern hidden beneath the Third Division barracks. "H-how on earth...how is this possible?!" she questioned rhetorically, more out of shock than answer-seeking. After descending further into the cavernous training room Mizu eventually reached Urahara again and observed his tinkering with what appeared to be computer panels. "Set up, Captain Urahara-sama? What do you have set up?" she wondered with great curiosity in her golden eyes.

"Oh, this?" A hand waved in the direction of their vast surroundings as he responded with a surprising amount of insight. "Well, 'Anything is possible when you set your mind to it' - that sounds like something the Captain-Commander would say. Personally, I just think it is easier to work on projects when kept out of sight, and much safer too, so I created this room after I was appointed as Research Captain."

Kisuke's errant arm returned, scratching at the underside of his chin as he continued to work the devices around him with one hand. His blase attitude towards what was, quite frankly, an entirely peculiar thing for a Captain to do certainly did not seem to faze him. If anything his choice to respond to her first question had been a subtle way to avoid responding to the second line of inquiry.

"Now, you will need to wear these sensors. Don't worry, they're entirely harmless." Producing from perhaps a hidden pocket within his uniform, Kisuke offered out a pair of strange, humming devices to Mizu. They were small, triangular, and a little sticky, but there was an earnest look in the Captain's eyes as he waited for her to accept them. "They sit on the top of your head, like a pair of antennas."