Pickin' Up What I'm Pickin' Up? [Rangiku, Sigurd]

…And, that seemed to be the last Konso of the day.

It just seemed to be a pretty relaxed summer morning out in this sleepy town, which was odd given she knew there were reports of a Hollow skulking about. She had taken some living world work unto herself from others so they could focus more on helping out within the Seireitei, especially after that awful bombing… Everyone’s been so on edge, she had been trying her best to alleviate any turmoil or stress so nobody was falling apart in her division - that was her job as Vice Captain, after all.

But she had to admit, the work was honestly… Pretty boring and uneventful. Not that she wanted a Hollow to come careening through, gobbling up innocent souls or anything! It’s just that she couldn’t help but want to do something else with her time, it was chalking up to being as monotonous as paperwork or grading tests…

Nah nah, she shouldn’t complain. It was her decision to do this, very easily could she just be back in the Seireitei, but she wanted to help out with the slack that fell to them to pick up, which just seemed to get worse with the amount of manpower put toward the whole… Hole, situation.

Hopefully everyone was alright…

There are always things happening behind the scenes: schemes, plots, ploys, and tirades. Even a sleepy town has a beast waiting to be stirred, and the plot's moving along just fine. Not too far from the Shinigami, a sudden bang broke the quiet town's serenity. An alleyway lit up, the sudden flash and sound evidence of only one culprit: a gunshot. Almost immediately, a man's running, his sprint carrying him away from the scene with frenzied adrenaline.

Next came a shuffle of trach cans before the alleyway fell silent again. Loud shots followed. Turning one's gaze onto the scene, there are a group of men crowding over something against the wall. A closer inspection revealed another man, his hair a long brunette. His hand's held over his shirt right around his waist, blood staining the ground underneath him. His eyes, however, seemed entirely uninterested in the group around him, their leering gaze filled with pissed contempt.

"Ya should have listened. Now we've gotta gut ya," One of the men pronounced, pulling out a pocket knife, unsheathing its metal blade.

Wuh oh, that sounded like trouble. The gunshot prompted the blonde to whip her head in that direction, which was an odd thing to hear considering any reports of this town gave her the impression it was pretty skinny on crime, much less in broad daylight. Well, she wasn't a cop but for all she knows that could've been some humans trying to take care of the reported hollow on their own, which... Alright, it was worth looking into, especially if someone was hurt.

She carried herself quickly to the final set of audible gunshots; it didn't take much to realize what was going on between the guy on the ground and the group surrounding him. While there was a case for not meddling with living world affairs, she couldn't leave a guy to die, right?

"Hey, pretty unmanly to gang up on a guy like that!" A casual tone addressed the group, a hand on the hilt of her Zanpakuto - anyone with even a smidge of danger sense could tell what she was trying to convey, "Mind backing off?"

She really would prefer to not have a guy bleed out in front of her around a bunch of thugs.

Anyone who's anyone knows what a Shinigami is. Times have changed greatly, making the warriors clad in black nothing more than another part of everyday life. With that comes some benefits and downsides. One, the woman wasn't seen as anything of particular interest by the men, but she was given the necessary due respect. For as much as they'd like to tell her off, they also understood they lacked any means of getting rid of her. That just left them the only option of grumbling to themselves as they slowly filed out of the alleyway, muttering things like teaching people a lesson or not to mess with their gang. Unfortunately, even quiet places have bad apples that use the serene atmosphere to hide their dingy business.

That did leave the wounded man on his own, his amber gaze following the group leave until only the Shinigami remained for his eyes to fall on. He didn't say anything, only shifting himself to rise from the ground. Despite leaking, he stood straight and sighed, his ounce of bravado fading slightly as he faltered into the alleyway's wall.

"Thank you thank you, have a nice day," It wasn't like she was gonna actually unsheathe Haineko on a bunch of goons; it was more to sell the idea that she wasn't playing around if they backed off. Briefly throwing that disarming wave and tone to the grumpy departing group, her attention would draw to the struggling guy she just saved; yeah he was in bad shape, it hardly took a proper glance to know he was bleeding out.

"Hey!" She'd quickly snap to his attempt to get up, quickly putting her hands on his shoulders to prevent any further upward movement, "None of that! You're gonna make it worse moving around. Lie down and lemmie look at you."

Having carefully guided the man to lying on his back, she'd go to carefully raise his shirt and get a look at the damage. Not huge but looked pretty deep, a sympathetic inhale through gritted teeth followed. Rolling up her robe's sleeves, she decided it was time for her to put what kaido studies she had under her belt to use.

"Kay, i'm probably no Hanataro, but I can at least do enough to stop the bleeding and ease it up..." Clapping her hands, she'd get to work on helping heal the injury, hands placed over the wound as a shimmer of energy did it's work, "Sorry, might hurt. Miles better than dying, though!"

His eyes held no sympathy for his own situation, nor did he seem entirely concerned with the woman helping him. However, knowing it best to handle a situation before it gets worst, his resistance was null. In the end, not having to use any of his own energy or materials to fix himself is simply the better option. That doesn't mean he's particularly keen on being helped, but acting tough is a quick way to have questions thrown his way, questions he know will only be answered by lies.

A Shinigami though. What his luck. He knows enough of them to understand that she'll use some sort of spell to heal his wound, and it's adorable she's worried about hurting him. If he was a normal person, maybe he'd find the pain unbearable, but he doesn't even flinch as he felt the energy ripple through the hole in his side. Maybe he should have, but he's been shot before, plenty of times. If she cared to look beyond just his singular wound, the slight scarring around it would be noticeable, another topic that he'll have to dance around. A distraction should be used, keep her from focusing too hard on helping.

"I'm ashamed to have a beauty like you saving me."

Considering her looks, he hopes trying to appeal to her in such a way helps. He's not sure if she's the type to take compliments with mind interest or indulges in them greedily. Either way, it's best to strike on what's probably a hot topic revolving her.

Looked like her off time in studying the healing art worked in her favor. It seemed the bleeding was stopping and the wound was at least superficially healing.. Though she couldn't help but notice the formation of scar tissue around the wound as she healed it. She wasn't a doctor, but even a total dumbass would know wounds didn't normally start forming that right after getting it. Did he.. Have a healing factor faster than a typical human's? It wasn't like that was strange in this day and age, but she had to wonder what the hell he was doing with those punks. Though when the man tried to shoot her what sounded like an attempt at a compliment, she couldn't help but snicker.

"Quite the flattering thing to say with a hole in your stomach," Narrowed eyes with an 'i'm on to you' look were fixed on him, "I guess you're feeling better enough to tell me what you were doing with those punks?"

It's impossible to get a read on her without any prior information about who she even is. Is she smart? Is she a dunce? Is she strong? Weak? She has the basic skills that are known to Shinigami at least. Kido, is it? There are different classifications to it as well: defensive, offensive, and healing. Could he take her if he had to? Questions plagued his mind, and his eyes had slowly drifted up to the sky, but with her words, he came back, flicking his gaze to her.

"You'll find ruffians anywhere, even in a town like this. Nothing to worry about."

Though, he's sure she's the type to worry. Her gaze told him enough that she's at least average intellect. Something's in her head, telling her that things aren't exactly what they seem. Maybe she's just overly curious. Maybe she's just being nice and worried about an injured man. He could hurt himself wondering over it, but he only needs to express the bare minimum to go about his day.

"It's not hard for a group to bully a lone person. I was just unlucky."

This guy was measuring up to be a bit suspicious himself, she just had that sixth sense there was more going on than she was being led with. But that was mostly a gut feeling; he wasn't anything more than a guy she just saved from some thugs as far as hard facts could be gleaned. The blonde would proceed to lean away from him as he spoke, curious bright blue eyes toward his statements. Well, regardless of what she felt, nothing he said seemed particularly out of the ordinary, apart from such a large group jumping one guy in broad daylight.

"Well Mr. Unlucky," Spoken matter-of-factly; this was both a test to see if something was amiss, and a genuine reach to get the man some help, "My ability to heal isn't all that great, so I should get you to the nearest hospital."

With shockingly little issue, the dark robed woman carefully yet swiftly scooped the man up, til she was at a stand with the larger figure held in her arms with little issue. She couldn't help but smirk.

Anything he thought of prior to what's currently happen doesn't matter. Him feeling like he's going to get out of this situation without any issue doesn't matter. His job, powers, or reputation doesn't matter. Even the slime girl that he made sure stayed out of this doesn't matter. His face is but a mask, a mask of absolutely bewilderment.

Probably the most emotion he's shown in years.

He had zero doubt this woman would prove capable. She is a Shinigami after all, but the absolute gall in simply lifting him from the ground like a prone child... If Sigurd had wished to shed his secrecy, he'd have removed his chain and begone with her, but he does not wish any further complications. His pride be damned, completely and utterly damned. The only response that he could muster in these troubled times is nothing more than a simple strained smile, his eyes full of nothing but baffled fake mirth.

"N... No need for a hospital, ma'am. I am positive your, erm, whatever that was is enough. I'm feeling better already. I assure you, I can at least walk."