Those Who Dwell in Shadows [Yuuto, Shaoling]

It had been well over a century since Yuuto last saw his former Captain. He wouldn't really have called himself...close with her, per say, but despite that, she was someone that he still held a decent amount of respect for. It made him all the more confused at her sudden public appearance in the City of Lights' event, fighting against the Gotei's members that had signed up.

For the longest time, he had been hesitant about attempting to meet with her after all these years. But, with this, as well as the incident in the Soul Society, he couldn't keep putting it off. Dressed more casually than in the usual Captain's haori, he made his way to the World of the Living.

It didn't take him long to track her down. Despite the mild, residual apprehension that had accompanied him, he pushed it aside as he approached.

"Hello, Sui-Feng."

Shaoling had known perfectly well who was coming before he arrived in front of her. She kept up with the goings-on in Soul Society on the rare occasion that someone wished to speak to her, so she'd long been aware of his captaincy, and she had always made note in her mind of every subordinate of worth. He had been one of the best, so it was only natural she recognize him simply by the energy of his general presence.

"Shaoling is the only name I answer to now, Hisakawa."

There was a faint bite to her tone, but it wasn't any particularly different from the way she always spoke. If anything, that mellow edge was rather gentle when compared to the caustic authority with which she'd led the Stealth Force and the Onmitsukido. She wasn't particularly irritated with him, and if anything, as she sat here in the City of Lights with a warm cup of tea in hand, watching the sea and enjoying the cool South Pacific winter air, there was a certain peace to her presence that was alien even to her.

"Hello to you, as well."

As much as habit called for him to refer to her by the codename he always knew her as, he tempered his tongue. He merely gave a soft nod as he walked over to her, quietly sitting down across from her.

"Right. I suppose you have no need for that old code name anymore."

So much can and had changed in one hundred years, yet, with that faint bite to her voice, there were some things that still remained the same. There was a mellowness compared to how he remembered her speak during her time as his Captain and Commander-in-Chief of the Omnitsukido. Yet, despite how awkward the situation felt -- at least, for him -- there was a small, nostalgic comfort at being in her presence after so much time had passed.

"It's...been quite some time. How have you been? I can see that your time in the Living World has...changed you, considering your appearance in the City of Light's arena. You left quite the stir and impact, after all."

"It isn't a matter of necessity. I don't wish to associate with the Feng."

Straightforward to the point that it could be called brutal, but Shaoling certainly didn't regret saying that so openly. There was hardly any secret in the fact that she had abandoned the family when she disappeared, and that alone spoke more than anything she could actually say on the matter. Confirming it was just that; confirmation, nothing more.

"My time here hasn't changed me. The ingratitude of the Seireitei changed me. Taking on a student changed me. I didn't step into the arena for the sake of the Vandenreich. I only did it to see if the current Gotei can provide any better than it did the last time I was there. Several shinigami have come to me in the past few years looking for a match. Only one has bested me, and I have only myself to blame for holding back then."

Despite the tone of voice that sounded as though she was correcting him, Shaoling didn't mean much by it. She was simply speaking to him as she'd speak to anyone on this topic. When she had been Captain, Commander in Chief, there had never been time or even reason to speak about herself. But there was no security to be maintained now, no professional distance demanded. She had no interest in becoming that woman again.

"I don't imagine you've come for the same reason."

A century had done little to temper her tongue, it seemed, still holding the same cutthroat straightforwardness that he remembered. But, he didn't press the topic -- rather, his attention shifted to what she said next. She had taken on a student, fought against Shinigami seeking a match, only ever being bested by one, though the circumstances of that victory seemed questionable.

"While I would be lying if I said part of me wasn't curious, that's for...another time. I didn't come here intending to fight you."

He fell silent for a moment as he finished, again pushing back the apprehension that pulled at his heart and musing on what she said. Ingratitude of the Soul Society? It was something that he could relate to, given his own ejection from the Gotei. That, in it of itself, was a primary reason why he was still so wary, and why his loyalty to the organization and Soul Society still often hung by a delicate thread.

To him, those he loved and cared for, as well as the world that he once called home was his first and utmost priority. Finally, he got out of his own head, and spoke.

"I'm certain that you need little explanation about the...incident in Soul Society. I came here to ask if you'd be willing to help with the situation."

"I heard, yes. Judging by how difficult it's been to return afterward, I don't imagine this happened on account of Realm Enforcement suddenly growing lax. Someone has a problem with the Gotei, and they're competent enough to make it more than just their problem."

Taking another sip of her tea, Shaoling's gaze finally moved to her former subordinate, seeming to size him up as if he were no different than a child she used to see on occasion. She certainly didn't consider him someone dear to her, but he'd been among the best under her command. He'd been younger, more inexperienced then, but the potential had always been present.

"You aren't the first person to ask me if I'd come back for one reason or another. But there are people in Soul Society I'd prefer weren't killed because of unknown scum without the fortitude to make their problems known openly."

She knew it was perhaps contradictory that she, a woman who had always operated in secrecy and obscurity, would have such disdain for underhanded tactics, but it wasn't about the methodology in itself. Everything Shaoling had ever done had been for transparent reasons. Those she cut down, those she arrested, it was all for the sake of enforcing the orders given to her in the name of the Seireitei's laws. These kinds of tactics, which conveyed nothing, may as well have been blind and meaningless violence, and action without meaning was wasteful, foolish.

Despite her time with her students, and despite her own awareness and even disdain for it, Shaoling couldn't suddenly shed such a fundamental worldview.

"You'll have my assistance."

He had his own theories and reservations about the matter, the bomb in the hospital and attempt on his life. From what he could sense and understand of the situation when things had finally calmed down after the initial attack, he figured that this was far more than just someone having a problem with the Gotei.

"I have my own personal thoughts on the reasoning behind the attack, but, it's just speculation at this point. Frankly, I think most people will just believe me paranoid, but, time and evidence will tell."

Even one of his closest confidants had shunned his idea of what the true intent behind the attack might have been. Perhaps he was just paranoid, and perhaps with that paranoia had come a strange sense of arrogance and self-importance that he'd never known before. He was willing to admit he was wrong though, should it ever come to that.

As Shaoling finally gave an answer, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief, the tension and anxiety bothering him lifting as the words processed. Another hand in the matter, particularly one with her skills, would be of great aid. He had figured that, even if she said no, they would manage and figure things out, but, this response was certainly more favorable.

"Thank you. I'll let the Sixth and Seventh know of this arrangement."

"Paranoid? I think if there's one thing you should have learned from your time under me, it's that most people don't realize the difference between paranoia and particularly sharp awareness."

Shaoling knew, too, that some people could be too cautious, and she'd seen many under her become paranoid when they were still fresh from the academy. Those who made it through a long service quickly refined that sense for danger, however, even if they were still noticing the same dangers they'd always been.

"It's your duty to be aware of any possible danger, from any possible source. It only becomes 'paranoia' when you let that awareness put fear into you. Now, tell me your suspicions."

Despite the fact that he was, in every possible sense, the more authoritative voice in this arrangement, Shaoling wasn't going to change how she operated or carried herself. He'd been her subordinate then, and she wasn't one who lowered herself to lesser standards. She didn't expect Hisakawa to suddenly prostrate himself and give her the role of leadership or any nonsense like that. Rather, she expected that he'd come to her knowing her abilities and her competence. She was willing to work with him as an equal.

He knew that his instinct and sense for danger was hardly wrong these days. He knew that something about the entire situation felt wrong, but all he had were speculations, arrogant ones at best. So, for a moment, the Captain's gaze turned to the ground, retreating into thought -- returning to the present in short order.

"I believe that this was targeted, that someone was attempting to kill me, or worse, frame me."

Every bit of information he had gathered from witnesses, survivors, anyone and everyone that could potentially give him a lead as he worked with the Sixth Division, was invaluable to him.

"Sensors indicated that the blast was akin to a Cero, and I could sense Hollow energy when the pressure wave hit me. I...recently became a Vizard. Barely anyone knows, because the recency will cause suspicion to turn toward me. However...a few survivors claim that, right before the explosion went off, a package was delivered to the room next to mine. But, according to them, the room was empty."

He stopped, retreating into thought once again. There were a lot of potential options from there. The courier could have been the assassin, but him being well-known poked holes in that theory, in addition to him being vaporized in the blast. Giving a quiet, but mildly irritated sigh, Yuuto continued.

"I don't think that this was an attempt to destroy resources, either. There was significant damage, but if they wanted to truly cripple our medical capabilities, they would tried to destroy the entire building. I think...someone views me as a threat, and is trying to take me out of the picture."

Shaoling took in all of the information she was given with the same cool demeanor that she took in everything. It was as if she were simply listening to a list of daily errands that Yuuto needed to run, but her mind was processing everything he said, turning it over a few times in her thoughts as she watched the sea.

"There are better ways to kill you than a bomb. Anyone who knows of you well enough to want you dead should know something like that isn't going to kill you. Who knows about this Vizard issue?"

She didn't care about the event itself. He was handling himself fine in the immediate, and it wasn't her business on any personal level. All that mattered was the fact that it was apparently a secret, because that radically lessened the amount of people who could reasonably think to do it.

"Don't count out the possibility of this being a targeted attack on the medical infrastructure. You're right to think this may be targeted at you, but getting the entirety of the hospital isn't an easy task. It's still a possibility."

Getting too far ahead of themselves would only make it easy to force themselves onto the wrong course. Shaoling had learned long ago that overconfidence in her deductions would have far worse consequences than taking the time to ensure everything was absolutely sound.