Tokyo Drift (Hana, Meninas)

There was only so long that she could wander the busy streets before it became overwhelming and the pink haired Quincy had unfortunately reached that point. Tokyo wasn’t somewhere that she knew too well and that was all it took to cause the anxiousness to emerge. She tried her best to keep calm and keep a cool head but in the end, she’d been forced to take a break, finding herself sitting at a table outside a restaurant, nervously watching the people as they passed. Why was it that she could quite easily fight against any opponent without any issue but find it impossible to simply explore a city on a peaceful day? A question that she’d asked herself a million times and still didn’t know the answer to. She’d always been that way.

That being said, she couldn’t say that her time spent in Japan had been all bad. She’d managed to find friends in Nanaly and Mura, having a rather spirited spar with the latter. Meninas just wished that it could be that way with everyone she met. Still, she’d at least found a nice restaurant to rest at and as the pink haired girl took a sip of her drink, the tension that she felt began to ease just a bit. Maybe in a little while she’d be able to risk the mob of people again in order to find her way.

Hana sat on the edge of a restaurant roof in the middle of Tokyo. It had been quiet after a single hollow attack in the last three days, so it was time to try and get a bit of training in. She had no way of sparring and couldn’t completely distract herself because she was on the job, but a little sensory training was simple enough. Sitting in a meditative state, both hands in her lap, she had her eyes closed.

It was all about her reikaku. As countless people passed her by, she did what she could to pinpoint those who would be considered ‘stronger.’ Most were basic humans with only enough reiryoku to give them the ability to see spirits. It wasn’t until she pinpointed one much more significant power that she focused in and tracked them. They stopped just below her, likely visiting the restaurant.

Hana opened her eyes and looked down to see a pink haired woman sit at a table. She could tell the woman wasn’t a shinigami, but what was she? She was clearly more powerful than Hana, at least by reiryoku standards. And if experience helped Hana understand anything, it helped her understand that if someone’s energy reserves were that much greater, they likely had the skill to back it up.

“I wonder…” Hana said. She wasn’t normally want to approach someone so bluntly, but she was curious. This woman’s reiatsu felt closer to Yumiko than anyone else… Hana shunpo’d back to the floor, appearing away from most people. She wasn’t hiding herself. In fact, she was intentionally letting her reiatsu be known. If Meninas looked over, she’d see Hana smiling and waving before walking over.

“Hello. I am sorry to interrupt you, but do you mind if I ask whether or not you are human or quincy? I know it is none of my business, but I am learning to tell the difference and was hoping you would be open to answering.”

Her awkward and anxious musings were rather abruptly cut off as she felt an unfamiliar reiatsu approaching her position. At first, she wondered if perhaps its owner was a Hollow or something but she shrugged that thought off once she found her bearings. It was clearly not the spiritual energy one of those and as her head turned around to watch the figure approach, Meninas began to figure that maybe she was a Shinigami. Meninas didn’t have too much experience with them just yet but she didn’t hate them, as a lot of Quincy tended to. They’d never hurt her personally so why should she hate them?

With that in mind and doing her best to not let her anxiety get the best of her, the Sternritter would wave back and reply, a smile crossing her features. “Hi there. My name’s Meninas and I’m for sure a Quincy. Are you a Shinigami by any chance? I figured you weren’t an ordinary human from your aura.” She felt it was OK to ask and doing so helped her to relax just a touch. The woman before her seemed nice enough which did wonders for the pink haired woman’s nerves.

Randomly approaching someone did not always go well, but this woman greeted her with kindness relieved that worry. Hana’s smile grew and her nervousness quickly faded. Hana took note of the vibrant hair the woman had. She loved her cut!

“Yes, I am!” Hana cheerfully said, her hands cupped together in front of her. “Though, I am relatively new to the job, so any time I get the chance, I try to train at least one of my skills I am getting better at identifying different reiatsu. Oh, my name is Hana Aoyama.” Hana politely bowed. "If I may ask, what brings you to the city? Most Quincy I have encountered find their place within the City of Light."

"Of course, I have not encountered many, so many my assumption sounds foolish." Hana rubbed the back of her head, cheeks tinted pink in embarrassment. "My apologies for any offense. I really should control my curiosity..."

The fact that Hana seemed to be more curious than anything else had quite a calming effect on the Sternritter and there was noticeable relaxing of the shoulders from Meninas. She didn’t mind the question as it made perfect sense for her to ask such a thing and had no problem with answering. “It’s fine. I’ve just been spreading my horizons a bit to be honest and wanted to visit somewhere new. Been in Japan a few days now although I think I might have pushed myself a little too much. I’m not all that good with large crowds and I got a little overwhelmed.” She didn’t have an issue with admitting such a thing, knowing that hiding her anxiety wouldn’t do her much good. Ever since she’d joined the Vandernreich, she’d been trying to get a handle on it, even if it was easier said than done.

Offering the seat opposite her, she’d smile, remembering her manners. “Would you like to sit down and chat for a bit? I’d love to hear about what brought you here and I’m not going to lie, I don’t know that much about Shinigami. It’s nice to meet you, Hana.” Meninas tried her best not to sound awkward.

Mininas came off genuinely kind and open, which helped Hana also feel at ease here. She understood the risks of approaching people suddenly more than most. A lot of personalities could react in distinct ways, some often rude or mean, so Hana was thankful for being shown kindness instead. She nodded when she was offered a seat and took her place across from Mininas. “Thank you; nice to meet you too.”

“I will answer any questions that I am able to,” Hana said, laying her hands in her lap and crossing one leg over the other. Hana held a rather elegant demeanor, like a gentle princess one could read out of storybooks. "What would you like to know?"

Half expecting to receive an answer of no, Meninas was a little surprised by just how willing Hana was to talk about her life as a Shinigami. She knew a bit from her dad about the history between the two races and while the pink haired woman held no grudge with the Soul Society, her brothers certainly had. Yet, they seemed to have generally hated everyone outside of their circle and she’d been no different herself. Still, she’d never let their horrible attitude rub off on her and her father had always been a kind soul, advising her not to focus on the past and what had come before.

“It’d be nice to hear a little about how Shinigami are trained if you don’t mind telling me. I’m a bit of a training fanatic, you see and I’m curious to learn if Shinigami are trained in a similar way to Quincy.” She guessed that it was probably more formal than her own and Meninas couldn’t help but ask. Training was what she seemed to spend most of her time doing and never grew tired of the constant grind to become better than she was.

Hana was learning to be more outgoing and kind to people. Her selfish nature before the Academy prevented her from making friends. Luckily, her best friend Hiroe was able to help her kick those horrible habits. So, talking to someone genuinely interested in subject matter she could speak on was always fun.

"I would be surprised if we were trained very similarly; we use different energies, right?" Hana wasn't exactly sure, but she tried recalling information from some of her old textbooks. "When it comes to determination and strictness, I am certain both Quincy and Shinigami hold similar work ethics. If I remember right, a Quincy's weapon is something they create and summon. Shinigami bond with an asauchi and imprint a piece of their spirit onto it, which develops into a power they must learn about over time. Would that be similar to the method of Quincy?"

“The bond between a Shinigami and their weapon does seem to be a little different from the one I have with mine. Naturally, we have to train extensively with them in order to properly master them but our weapons are just that. They have no will or personality of their own. We’re able to summon multiple ones though when we reach a certain level of power and they can take on an incredibly varied amount of forms. My first one wasn’t even a bow.” Meninas replied with a small smile, thinking back to the first time she’d created her gauntlets.

“Our races definitely require the same amount of dedication though in order to get away and I don’t know how many hours I spent back home trying to improve. A lot of Quincy learn from their family rather than a school and I was definitely one of them. My father was quite stern when it came to practice.” The Sternritter was still smiling though, thankful for it.

Hana wondered what it was like to have a family that supported your goals and aspirations. She had very little of that. Dad was too busy, and mom was a character all on her own. “Combat did not become a way of life until about a year ago,” Hana said in reply to Mininas comment on training with family. “Even during my time at the Academy, I had a difficult time succeeding in the elements of combat; I merely wanted no part of it. I only recently, as in approximately a year ago, came to understand the importance of it. I have been making up for lost time since.”

“I was pretty skilled at one element; being quick on my feet frustrated my opponents. Dodging and maneuvering around their mediocre reflexes was quite helpful. Hoho techniques helped me through it.” Hana giggled, a small bit of pride leaking into her words. “Quincy have a speed technique of their own, correct? Shinigami have the shunpo, but I cannot recall what Quincy name theirs…”