Nowhere, Middleof [Kaito, Ajora]

There wasn't much that Kaito didn't know about his own district in the Rukongai. He had explored some of the other districts when he was younger, something that had gotten him into no shortage of trouble, but he didn't really explore into the furthest reaches. He had always been told that the furthest districts were somewhere that he should never tread, and for so long, he had listened.

But, after Hiroe had mentioned Ajora and briefly talked about her on their date, as well as some small mentions here and there, Kaito wanted to meet her for himself. He needed to meet more people and explore more of the Rukongai anyways -- he wanted to protect his home, after all. He wanted to make sure he knew every inch of the place, to ensure that he could always try and make his way there. To know the places to hide and attack from the shadows.

So, dressed in his regular clothes -- hardly more than rags, compared to his uniform for the academy -- as well as having the haori made by Hiroe adorning his back, Kaito quietly walked through the district. He had covered the character of "ghost" in the center of the garb. He loved the piece of clothing with all his heart -- it was a gift that meant everything to him -- but, the moniker of "ghost" stayed in the shadows. It was not a name that he could wear proudly, not yet.

For now, he just looked for anyone who matched the description Hiroe gave.

Seeing the state of the furthest districts hurt. Seeing people even worse off than he was, or worse, seeing even more sketchy and suspicious figures throughout. He had seen some people falling victim to them, and yet, he held his tongue, keeping himself from trying to help them. He wasn't ready yet. He was used to fighting small-time bullies and thugs that were still roughly around his size.

He couldn't afford to pick a fight, not when he didn't know the layout, and certainly not in the daytime. Right now, he was just another wanderer.

It wasn't hard to notice people that stood out in these parts. Seeing someone with a wrapped arm in the corner of his eye, he turned to look over at them. It wasn't much, but it was at least somewhat noticeable. He was pretty sure Hiroe had mentioned something like that when she talked about Ajora. He quietly followed behind her, reaching out to gently tap her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sorry, but, is your name Ajora?"

If there was one thing he wasn't expecting from her, it was to get side-stepped and forced to the ground. Before he had a chance to react, Ajora had moved behind him, grabbing and twisting his wrist. Wincing at first, as she twisted even more, locking his wrist and forcing him down, he grunted, groaned, and cried out in pain as he tried to turn his head to face her.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow!"

But, thankfully, she released his wrist, and he wasted no time in cradling it to his chest, rubbing it lightly as he got back up. Shaking his wrist to try and get the last bits of stinging and pain out of it, he turned to look at her, feeling a little sheepish as she frowned.

"Y-Yes, I'm an academy student. Sorry, I recognized you from the description my friend gave, and I wanted to know if you were her. I wasn't expecting to end up nursing my wrist, though. Are you her, though? If not, sorry, my mistake. I didn't meant to startle you."

He felt a little awkward as she stared at him, but he could tell that she wasn't entirely aggressive with how she was looking at him. He could tell, however, that she didn't exactly want companions. He rubbed the back of his neck, readjusting his haori slightly.

"Hiroe Miyashiro. We, um...went on a date together, we're classmates, and she talked about you a bit."

She seemed even more antisocial than he was. Classmates, as far as he knew, didn't go out of their way to avoid him, but he wasn't exactly a social butterfly. It didn't help that there were a good amount of students in his classes were from the districts closer to the Soul Society, making it awkward for him to start up any kind of conversation or even approach them.

"Well, I just...wanted to meet you for myself. I wanted to meet some of the people that Hiroe knew. See what interested her, stuff like that."

He had never really been sure of what to expect from Ajora, only the very brief comments that Hiroe had made when the topic came up. But, with the first impression they were putting on one another, this...wasn't feeling very comforting. Kaito felt uneasy as she narrowed her eye at him -- a disapproving glare.

Her eye went to his outfit, and he found himself rubbing his arm awkwardly. But, as she threw out the casual accusation, he suddenly stopped turning to look at her with an irritated glare. How in the hell did she come to that kind of conclusion?

"I'm not stalking her! We're classmates and friends! I just wanted to meet some of the people she met, like you. Expand my friend group a bit, or just learn more about the people around the academy and in the Rukongai."

It felt bizarre how she came to such a conclusion after such limited information. He was just wanting to meet people from Hiroe's friend group, maybe expand his own, and look more into beyond his limited scope of the Rukongai.