Flames of Fate [Tsubine/Hono]

Tsubine liked a woman who could laugh boldly. People who expressed what they were feeling were not only easier to communicate with, but they usually ensured more engaging conversations. In response to her first question, his smile waned. He shrugged. "Don't know. I didn't see exactly where it came from, but let's go check it out." Tsubine whistled and twirled a upraised finger in a circle. His bodyguards circled up around him and Hono. It was clear they were in a protective screen rather than an encirclement.

Hono's next question was predictable. "Well, community outreach. This district is my home, and I do what I can to support it." Tsubine proceeded to try to step forward while talking. If she didn't move, he would stop. "Sometimes supporting it means protecting it. And other times, people don't agree with how I support my home—hence the men around us." He gestured to his encircling protectors. "They're good at keeping the ruffians back, but I don't have enough people strong enough for Hollows, so it's up to me at times."

Tsubine leaned in and whispered the least-kept secret about him conspiratorially. "Plus, I enjoy a good fight. Gets the blood pumpin'." He straightened up and looked back towards where the Hollow came from. "Well, shall we go try to find whatever or whoever hurt that Hollow?"

"'Sus...?' Is that some kind of new slang?" Tsubine was genuinely confused by Hono's phrasing. He was never one to keep up with slang or new lingo. He still had CDs, vinyl records, and a few tape cassettes from the World of the Living. Hell, he liked getting around by chariot. He was odd and old-school. One of his men stifled a chuckle and respectfully informed him that she meant "suspicious" or "suspect." He muttered something about being old before replying to her joke. "My late wife was the only beautiful woman I needed in my life so I didn't see the need to surround myself with women, and well, old habits die hard." This was a lie as his daughter still existed. Tsubine was keeping Mayumi on the down-low after the one run-in with... what was her name? Tio? Ray? Bah, it was written on a business card in his wallet. If he needed her name, he'd just look it up there. Easy.

Tsubine enjoyed talking with Hono. She seemed a good person, and he wished she weren't part of the Gotei. Someone like her would be a great morale booster for the Shirazumi-rengokai. However, Tsubine specifically avoided poaching from the active members of the Gotei United. He didn't want to cause J any headaches... Okay, any more headaches. The two and his retinue ventured into the forest. Tsubine and his men abandoned the idea of stealth and instead focused on trying to find signs of whatever had been going on.

"How do you like it in the Gotei?" Tsubine asked abruptly while studying a crushed fallen log. He was trying to see if it had fallen long before their Hollow duo had trampled through or not. It was hard to tell, but he was thinking not... "I've heard a lot of mixed things about the Gotei, and I'm a bit surprised with some of their members. Some are cool and composed with sticks up their asses, others are terrifying monsters... Is it really filled with extremes, or are there some boring people to balance life out some?"

Tsubine would be hurt if he heard her thoughts about his age. He was only, what? Just over 13 times her age? That wasn't old at all by Shinigami standards! There was one old dude in the district that claimed to be nearly a thousand years old, and he was still selling dried meats just like he did in his youth. Tsubine was still pretty young. He just happened to lead a very exciting life with the important bits happening in the last hundred years or so. Kanna and Mayumi both were relatively recent additions to his life's story.

Tsubine was genuinely glad to hear Hono's reason for enjoying the Gotei. It aligned with his own goals in life, and it showed humanity in a group he had begun to question. He also appreciated her response about the people in the Gotei. If the entire group was filled with Js, Kanaes, Rays (or whatever her name was), or even Honos, it'd be a bit of a circus. Amusing to look at, but he'd reconsider keeping Mayumi so close. "Me?" Tsubine pointed to himself in response to her question. "Here. Well, not here here. I wasn't raised in this forest. I've been in here in Shōjin for as long as I can remember."

"It's my home, and always will be. Sure, I may visit friends elsewhere, but I think I'll always come back here in the end." Tsubine nodded, then stood after taking one last look at the crushed log. Something wasn't adding up in his mind. What would make a Hollow run, but then leave no sign of a chase? He shook his head, and then the group continued deeper in. "You mentioned protecting your family. I gotta say I admire people who have that as a driving force. It shows that they're usually good people... or at least they're wanting good. Do you have a large family?"

Old is subjective. To a mayfly who only lives for just days, a dog is ancient. However, Tsubine soon felt like how a mayfly perceives the dog. 18. This girl was young—far younger than Tsubine expected. Mayumi wasn't too far off, but her growth was slower. Tsubine imagined in another decade or two, she'd be roughly equivalent with Hono barring exceptional circumstances.

Tsubine nodded along to Hono's answers to his questions. She was being far more upfront with him than he was with her, and he would have to admit that it made him feel a tinge of guilt. Mayumi's safety, however, loomed ever-present. "That's a decently-sized family. I think any more than that and it's just a bit much." Tsubine probably would have wanted a family that size with Kanna. Just enough chaos to keep things interesting was his dream. Well, honestly, his dream was to have Kanna back in his life, but that wasn't going to happen.

Tsubine continued to look around for any sign of whatever had hurt that Hollow from before. He was beginning to give up when he tripped over something. Tsubine stumbled, hopped, and got close to flailing before arresting his momentum and re-balancing himself. Adjusting his lapels, he turned around to see what he tripped over. A leg poked out from a bush. It was meaty—and the foot was easily a size 15 wide. However, it was quickly apparent this wasn't just a bystander or a footsoldier of the Shirazumi-rengokai. The simple sandals and white socks were almost enough to ID this, but the torn fringes of the leg of a pair of black hakama signalled the truth.

"That's a Shinigami." Tsubine motioned for his men to come over. The bush Tsubine saw the leg poking out of turned out to not be a bush. It was a few of the large branches from a tree—probable the same tree that had been lobbed at the Hollow. The men lifted the branches to reveal a large, muscular man laying face-down. It took all of his bodyguards to roll him onto his front. Blood covered his face, and his breathing seemed shallow. Tsubine looked over to Hono. "Hono, do you happen to know Kaidō?" Tsubine sure as hell didn't, so he hoped his new Shinigami comrade did.

"Man, do I know that stage..." Tsubine let that slip, but he didn't catch it. Mayumi had made one of Kanna—or at least the best she could remember Kanna. There was a lot of care that went into that one. There were also ones of J, Kei, and a few of the staff around the Saionji manor and even a few members of the Shirazumi-rengokai. The one she made of Tsubine hurt in some ways. There was care, sure, but it wasn't as much—and even for a crude design, it wasn't him. It just showed how much he had missed out on. But Hono's chipper attitude helped drag his thoughts away from that depressing hole.

Unfortunately for both the unconscious Shinigami and Tsubine, Hono didn't appear to be the best. Though it wasn't like Tsubine knew that. He could barely identify most Kidō. "You two," Tsubine pointed at two of his bodyguards, "about two miles further up the road than we were on there's an old healer. I think he may have tried out for the old Fourth Division. Grab him and bring him here. Oh, and his neighbor... I think he has a mule and a cart. Commandeer them. If they make a fuss, tell them to file a complaint with their nearest branch office." The two snapped a quick salute before jogging off into the forest. Tsubine took a look at the Shinigami, then at the surrounding area.

"My guess is that he was fighting that Hollow, he swung that tree... but the Hollow was able to get a good hit in before retreating. It expected him to follow, and then we encountered it." He nodded in approval to his own thoughts on the matter. It was likely the correct view, but only the Hollow and this Shinigami knew. "Sorry for all this commotion. I doubt this is how you planned on your day going."