Ghosts from the Past (Komamura, Shaoling)

After his recent run-in with those Shinigami, Komamura knew he had to be extra careful going forward. And so he set about using alleyways and low traffic streets to get around the Rukongai. As he wasn't quite ready to look for a way into the Seireitei, there was no need to go to the more tightly-watched Districts further into the Rukongai. For now he could continue traveling through the outermost areas.

To some, seeing a nine and a half foot armored giant dodge from alleyway to alleyway was actually more suspicious than if he had been walking around normally. Luckily, Sajin thought to himself, the people around here aren't as observant as they could be. Even with his spiritual presence entirely hidden, a skill he'd mastered as a young man to avoid attention due to ceaseless ridicule, a wandering eye could still spot him. And so as he looked out of a shadowy alley and noticed a small group of souls moving down the street, he ducked back into the darkness and waited for them to pass.

Had she still been a captain, or head of the Onmitsukido, Shaoling would not have come this far out into the Rukongai for the sake of investigative work. She would have sent a trusted subordinate, likely with a small team to support them.

That, however, had been a matter of complacency. It had distanced her from the skill that she had been so proud of, led her to become proud of mere accolades and accomplishments rather than her own skill. It had bred weakness. This sort of hands-on work, disappearing for no small length of time to simply do what was necessary, allowed for her to center herself far more. But such a thought proved secondary, at least momentarily, when rumor came from some of her informants that a figure far larger than a typical soul had arrived clad head to toe in armor.

Didn't that sound familiar? She kept her eye open, kept her ear to the ground. Most lacked her ability to hunt down any quarry, and this was hardly stealthy prey. With a single exceptional shunpo, Shaoling brought herself into the alley he'd ducked into, a stern expression on her face that still seemed markedly less severe than what she had worn a century prior.

"One would naturally find behavior like that remarkably suspicious, you know."

Frozen in place, Komamura stood motionless as he sensed the sudden arrival of a...stranger? There was a familiarity to her voice, an amount of unbending severity that reminded Sajin of a woman he had worked with for years. Is that...? questioned Komamura silently to himself as he slowly turned his hulking body around to face the much smaller woman. Suì-Fēng...

Seconds passed without a hint of change from the silent armored giant towering over the only other person in the narrow, short alleyway. For the first time in a while Sajin Komamura, his shocked expression concealed behind an emotionless helmet, was at a loss for words. Of all people to just run into in the Rukongai, he never expected to come across Suì-Fēng. It had been over a century when he last saw her, since before the climactic finale in the war against Ender where he was believed to have died.

Forcing his voice even deeper than normal to further disguise himself, Sajin responded to Shaoling's accusation. "What's suspicious about a man in an alley?"

Look at him. If it was indeed Komamura Sajin, then he'd gotten some more tact in the past century. If it wasn't, Shaoling was simply curious where someone of this stature would have come from.

"A man in an alley is hardly suspicious. A man darting to and fro between alleys, however, and avoiding being seen, is remarkably suspicious. I wonder what compels you to hide."

That, alone, was what made her quite curious. Who would hide like this in this day and age? Was there some pressing reason to avoid being seen? Too many questions that couldn't be meaningfully answered for now.

If the fur on the back of his neck wasn't currently standing up from anxiety, Komamura could have laughed at Shaoling's line of questioning. Looking back, why are you hiding? was never a question he was asked growing up in Soul Society. In fact he was often told he should hide as a beast like him didn't belong in public or where he could be seen. In her case, at least a century ago, Komamura never felt she thought of him that way. None of the other Captains did, not even that monster in the Eleventh. They, like her, respected strength and effectiveness in their role, both of which they all had in spades.

With his hands at his side, neither close to his Zanpakuto's handle, Komamura turned to face Shaoling head-on. He towered over her like a mountain, but there wasn't an ounce of aggression in his movements or presence. Now, looking at her directly, strong emotions began welling up within Komamura's heart. She was different, but he could tell she was still the Suì-Fēng he knew and, for just moment, Sajin felt the urge to throw off his helmet and say It's me, Sajin. See? I'm still alive, I'm still here!. He wanted some way to connect to the past, to his time in the Gotei, but he resisted. He was just a ghost from a hundred years ago, a vessel for sad memories and regret.

Sajin collected himself and responded finally, a somber tone to his voice "It's just easier to travel this way, where I don't have to deal with every gawking look and gasp from people in the streets."

"Ease? I would have expected someone of your stature not to be concerned with ease."

Stature. She had chosen her words carefully in that moment, needling at who she suspected the man before her to be. It was an innocuous comment for any other man of mere size, but for one who had once been a captain, it would surely sting further. Shaoling was, even now, not someone who could be called a particularly kind woman. She wished to see results, and would not coddle others.

"Regardless. You carry a zanpakuto, which is hardly common here. That would draw as much attention as anything else. And from those with far more reason to be interested, no less."

Did she know? The way Shaoling spoke made Sajin suspect she suspected his true identity. He was beginning to think he wouldn't be able to hide such a critical bit of information from the woman who once led the Onmitsukidō for decades. Nonetheless, he couldn't give up the game so easily. Not if it meant potentially sending the Seireitei into an uproar about his survival and absence. After all, he knew he couldn't just ignore everything he sat on the sidelines for. If the world knew he lived, they may rightfully resent him.

"It's merely for self-defense. The Rukongai is not always the safest of places. And if it draws unwanted attention, just another reason for me to avoid it by sticking to alleys. Are you here looking for suspicious people on behalf of the Gotei?" Sajin knew Shaoling wasn't a Captain any longer, or even affiliated with the Gotei. Such a thing was newsworthy even out here in an outer Rukongai District. He was merely testing the waters, searching for information on why she of all people had come here.

"Oh? I see. I can understand wishing to avoid a fight in these parts."

Of course, understanding that wish didn't necessarily mean sharing it. Shaoling was hardly someone who avoided violence on any account of it being bad; at most, she avoided it because it was unnecessary. The thugs out here in the Rukongai, who provided very little toward her search beyond a minor nuisance, meant little to her.

"In a sense. I'm no member of the Gotei, however."

Some might say that she was revealing rather more than might be expected, but that truth was a useful tool in this investigation. After all, being in the Gotei was more of an obstacle than anything else in an investigation like this. Few who would have relevant information on the matter would reasonably provide it to one of their enemies, would they?

Rukongai bandits provided no threat to ex-Captains like Sajin and his would-be interrogator, but he still wished to avoid a fight when possible. Though, he was never dissuaded from stepping in to assist a helpless victim. In his mind so long as he resolved these conflicts quickly and without making too much of a scene, he could justify going out of his way and risking drawing attention.

Wishing to do a bit of interrogating of his own, Sajin questioned Shaoling's purpose for being here "A Shinigami, not a member of the Gotei, is in an outer Rukongai District looking for anything suspicious. You might be the most suspicious person in these parts." Had he himself not been here, Sajin probably would have been right.

"Might I? Perhaps. I'm not intent on acting as though I fit in here. I'm sure you've heard about the bombing in the Seireitei by now, hm? Rumor has it some former shinigami may have been involved."

While she wouldn't necessarily say she believed it could easily have been the work of some of her own former subordinates, Shaoling did know it was a possibility. Now, however, she wasn't really expecting that much of an answer here. It was simply needling. Even if this proved to simply be a surprisingly articulate and impressively large citizen of the Rukongai, this investigation was still her reason for being out here.

"I'm naturally interested in finding any shinigami who might be in hiding in these parts."