Candy [Mura, Stella]

Okay, Mura needed a break. Training every day was emptying his soul of much needed peace and tranquility – anyone who glared at his prayer beads could clearly see the stress he endured lately. He needed to do something that didn’t have anything to do with swinging a sword, manipulate Reishi, or just… just something that would put his mind somewhere else, so that he wouldn’t lose his damn mind – akin to a certain SOMEONE ELSE-

“You know, you’re being kind of wimpy now – it hasn’t even been a year since you came back from China-“

“Shut uuuuuuuuuuup, I need my brain cells, okay?! Hell, you probably want me to train in my damn sleep, too…”

Simply led by his craving mind, Mura found himself exiting a candy shop with a bag over his arm. “I haven’t had these since I was 18…” he pondered longingly with stars in his eyes at the fruit rollups, caramels and gummy bears he collected, while Kyuken was all but clueless at the contents of that bag. Now, let’s see…

…

Reaching into a bag was difficult when you only had one arm. He needed a place to put the bag down, but it was getting buzzy in the street now, and he only managed to find a free bench right when a flock of seagulls attacked his bag.

…

It resulted in Mura having another one of those arguments with Kyuken, shouting at the ghost’s face while scaring away a few passers-by with his rants. “Can I close my eyes for five minutes without your sass, you rusty prick!? WHAT GOOD DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING FOR ME?!”

"Have you not noticed that every time you do something I tell you not to, you INEVITABLY SUFFER FROM IT?!"

Oh great, his outburst drew in attention from someone. He probably looked crazy right now, so Mura shook his worn dome and turned his gaze at the redhead who expressed worry for his wellbeing. Based on her question… she couldn’t see Kyūken, could she? Strange…

Compared to many other passers-by, she emitted a similar sort of color to Meninas’. They couldn’t possibly be related, could they? She did appear out of nowhere, but the hair colors matched… somewhat. Maybe it was just him pulling straws, and it was recent when he’d dueled the Scottish brawler.

“Great, o marvelous – another cute woman for you to fumble miserably under. Pretty sure that makes three-“

“Shut uuuuuuuup…” Mura’s venomous tone jabbed into Kyūken’s side to make the insufferable spirit watch his damn mouth for five damn minutes. Always commenting about every angle of Mura’s life as if the one-armed kenshi’s entire world view was wrong… just… just ignore him, Mura. Out of mind – just for today. He really couldn’t believe that this asshole was the founder of his dojo’s martial art.

“… N-Not to you, I meant- I’m fine, I’m fine… y-you can’t see him, can you?” Mura asked the redhead, pointing a thumb at Kyūken’s dumb face, “… Y-You know what, never mind. I’ll just-“

“Hmh, wonder if she’s an Arrancar too – sure loved pulling that excuse when you met that Vera girl-“

“Veralia wasn’t even human, you sack of- fuck…”

He did it again – right in front of the redhead who probably thought he had complicated, medical or drug issues. “… I’m not talking to myself, I swear.”

”…”

She was right. Just go to an alleyway and cool down… like a creep. Him just standing out here in the street, frightening the passer-by who probably had a hundred more important things to deal with, was just a disservice to the Kyōto Prefecture. Thankfully, she knew that he- wait, could she see Kyūken?

“Huh… you can see him?” Okay, strangely, she must’ve had some strong spiritual prowess to be able to see him – at least, from Mura’s perspective. Now that she was in front of him, he could also see a bubbling aura emitting from her – a very… huh, pleasant aura. Not a hungry spirit like the green flames of Veralia, and not the alarming numbness in the ears from Akira’s, but Mura’s Spiritual Awareness wasn’t the sharpest around, either. All in all, good vibes.

“Wait, she can? Uh… hi,” Kyūken awkwardly waved at her, his Chain of Fate clearly lodged around the sheathed tsurugi that Mura was carrying on his belt, “Don’t mind us, we’ll… find another place where I can knock some sense into the manchild here-“

Even in front of a lady, the ghost had no restraint when it came to berating the living swordsman, causing a very reddish vein to press up on Mura’s forehead. Followed by a long, exasperated growl, Mura managed to cull his anger and instead decided that he wanted to talk to someone else other than Kyūken today. Anything – and I repeat, anything – to avoid getting brain damage from his ears taking in the frequences of his downgrading, unhelpful nagging.

“So…”
“Red-haired girl, are you too a warrior?”
“… Not my first question, but yeah – I can see a strong energy coming from you, too. Must be that Spiritual Pressure I heard about.”

Please, Kyūken… Mura did not want to fight anyone today, even for fun. Just drop it, already!

“If so, would you accept our cha-“
“K y ū k e n.”
“What?! You clearly need to shake off some more rust-“
“Ignore him, uh… oh, I’m Mura. Sorry for making you worry about us.”

…

Why was she taking up Kyūken’s offer so easily? Nah, nah, nah, this didn’t add up – she should’ve wondered why on earth that was one of the first things a guy, even a ghost, would request. Normal things, damn it – Mura just wanted to enjoy a quiet, peaceful day today!

“… You don’t… have to force yourself, I’m not-“

“Then it’s settled! Mura, let’s find an open area and engage!”

“Kyūken, please, today’s an off day!”

“No excuses will save you out in the field! Stop whining and honor her decision to engage in combat with you, and don’t let her determined mindset be for naught! She answered without hesitation, after all – besides, you need more experience fighting women! Constantly getting weak in the knees at the sight of the opposite sex is nothing short of disgraceful-”

*SWIPE!*

Mura’s hand tried to swipe at the ghost, only to phase right through as expected. After trying a couple of rapid times, Mura sighed in defeat and followed the annoying ghost towards a nearby park – hopefully, he could just get a spar in, be done, then enjoy the rest of today. He was holding his candy bag with his mouth, so he mumbled to Stella: “Whash yor nane?”

Awfully going-with-the-wind, this lass. Seriously, if she scoffed and walked her own way, he wouldn’t blame her, but alas, here they both were heading for the nearest open area to terrify the neighbors with their trades. And he didn’t like any bit of it. At least, she’s not creeped out… was his only remedy in all of this. Fuck you, Kyūken.

“Sella… nnhg…” Mura remembered he had his bag of candy held by his teeth and became dexterous again, “Mura… hmh? Oh, wait, where’d you- what?”

To his utter surprise, she didn’t need much time to arm herself – by looking away from her for a moment and his gaze returning to her wide, lively orbs – her eyes, obviously – he saw her accompanied by an awfully large axe. That’s… t-that’s not fair? Kyūken, what’ve you signed me up for?!

Her bubbly looks betrayed her spiritual abilities, definitely. He’d have to be on guard and actually enter his dojo mindset again… even though he intended to take today off like a normal person. Stepping away from her, they found each other on a grassy plain with taller buildings and the rest of downtown in the background, while Mura placed down his bag of candy… and got an idea.

“Hey, let’s say we do it like this – first touch,” he proposed a challenge, “Whoever lands a hit first gets that bag.” That way, he wouldn’t have to do his best, y’know? He could have a little fun, unwind, and-

“What are you on about?”

“No, no, think about it, Kyūken – it’s a test of pressure, after all. When combating a Niten Muryū user, assume you only have one shot… ‘cause that’s usually all you get.”

“… Huh… I see. Sound logic – your move, girl.”