You Again? (Yuujin/Erika)

It's happenstance that he's here right now. It had become a habit for the young Noble to walk around the Gotei United. Sometimes he ended up watching the Fourth, other times he found himself around the Seventh. Shishiyuki being the Vice of that division made him somewhat curious of it, but it'd be lying to say he wasn't also curious about the First. It is where Murasaki is a lot of the time, and even if he's never talked to her, he always wondered what kind of person she is. Then, there's Her. He's not sure why, but his thoughts always found themselves revolving around her a lot.

Well, either way, he's not hunting for anyone in particular. This was one of those times he was just passing by. It's happenstance that he saw people training in one of the yards, and, as a combat fanatic, he became curious and took a seat on a bench to watch the participants. He's always been curious about Zanpakuto. His Sensei and Yugiri have one. His father even had one, but Yuujin's never dipped into the Shinigami aesthetic, so he's clueless about their workings. Transforming weapons sound interesting though, and it has colored his mind a couple of times about joining specifically to learn another form of combat.

No matter if he does or not, he's still sitting and watching a pretty interesting fight. Of course, he sticks out because of his outfit, but Yuujin's focused and ignorant of his surroundings. This is the chance to possibly learn something.

What did they mean some guy was looming on the training grounds just watching people train? Regardless of the cause, she took the asauchi and promptly made her way to the training grounds to find the culprit. This guy, again? She was almost dumbstruck by this guy's continued presence in the Seireitei and hovering of the Gotei United.

Dressed in normal shihakusho and not bothering to wear her vice-captain badge, Erika's identity was only for people that knew who she was and so the petite woman marched up to the vagrant with a scowl.

"Hey. What are you still doing here?"

She asked like she was suspicious in her regular irate tone. How could she not find it suspicious even? He didn't seem to have anything to motivate him to join, he had Shaoling after all and she assumed they held the same feelings. Essentially, what was this guy up to.

The way he kicked, Yuujin could tell that the particular fighter had dabbled in martial arts. He's particularly better at fighting than his opponent. However, his opponent seemed to understand how to move around their specific abilities, setting up traps that the other combatant usually failed to get around. However, it didn't seem to really matter, for the man simply powered through the inconveniences. It made Yuujin ponder what a good balance between power and mental prowess would be.

He pondered so deeply; he didn't even notice someone nearing him, nor did he notice her at first, even as she spoke. His gaze is drawn to the fight, his eyes sharp with intensity, his hand under his chin as silent mutterings moved his mouth.

The audacity of this guy to ignore her. Erika pondered the usage of reiatsu but decided it would just alarm the shinigami around her. Rather, Erika figured something a bit more specific to him and so the vice-captain raised her foot and gave the vagrant a good kick to send him a few metres away.

"Hey! When I'm talking to you, you little punk, you listen!"

She said after him, a little flustered from the fact he actually just ignored her which had her cheeks a shade of red. Though they only emphasised the sharp golden eyes staring daggers at him.

He wonders if he should ask for pointers. Even if they're not as skilled as Shaoling, they could give him some advice that could help him develop a new technique or something to catch his Sensei off guard. You can learn from everyone, of all capability. His mind was close to being made up when he noticed the scene move faster than it had before. It even flipped upside down and spun.

Things went dark for a second next before light had caught up with what had occurred, revealing that everything's on its side now. Then came the pain, as if someone had hit him with a car, but after dealing with Shaoling for so long, something like it wasn't exactly anything to cry too much about. Still, it doesn't feel good to get kicked.

"Huh- Ow. What the-"

He heard someone's voice and his eyes moved, looking at the sideways appearance of a woman he recognized. What did she just say? Listen to her? Was she talking to him earlier?

He'd push himself up, sitting on the ground before wincing a bit now that he can feel every bruise and scratch that she made him endure that split second. However, he noticed something more peculiar. Her face is red.

"Sorry..., Erika. I didn't notice you speaking to me at first. My apologies."

He had paused because he was going to say her last name, but he then realized that he doesn't actually know her last name, so he had awkwardly settled for her first. Though, his head would tilt as he then became more occupied with the fact that she's blushing. Did he upset her that much? He did not mean to. However, him staring probably wouldn't be appreciated by someone of her usual demeanor.

This guy. She bit her lip and scowled like she was ready to continue chewing his ear off with further barking but she was disciplined, she had more self-control than that. The kick had accomplished what she meant by getting his attention and he had apologised. Any further reprimanding for not listening to her wasn't justified in her mind.

So she took a deep breath to focus and put those frustrations to the back of her mind and remove the colour from her face after a few moments.

"I asked you. What are you still doing here? Apparently you've been all over the place watching shinigami go about their business, just leering silently, and people are on edge since we're still dealing with a bombing. Last I checked, you have no interest in being shinigami so what's the big idea?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. The bombing. Honestly, I had forgotten about that somewhat," He spoke, pausing before pursing his lips and looking down, his thumb and forefinger squeezing his chin. "No... Not forgotten, but more, pushed aside. My mind was more focused on other topics."

He'd rise, rolling his shoulders before he looked down at the Vice-Captain with thought filled eyes. For a second, he didn't explain himself, wondering just why someone of her status was sent to talk to him. Frankly, from their other conversations, he had figured she'd have someone else tell him to leave than to handle it personally. However, that claim would only work if she knew it was him. If anything, he was probably described as a stranger which would make Erika handling it herself even more farfetched. The dutiful type, yes?

"I cannot say I lack interest in the Gotei, but Sensei would be disproving of the choice. I wish to continue traveling with her, but I also wished to know more about the everyday workings of the organization on the off chance that I do attempt to be a member. Of course, I'd have to go through the Academy first, but I doubt I would be stuck their long after Sensei's training."

If anything, he would join after he felt Shaoling had finished with him, and at that point, he'd probably be strong enough to skip the Academy, but he can't see the future. Something could pull him in faster than he expected, or it could be years before he thought of joining again. Why waste time lazing about when he could explore his options? Hopefully, Erika understood him, if even a little.

"Oh, and what has made you change your mind?"

She kept it cordial rather than making some snide remark about how he seemed to grow up in more ways than one. At the same time she did scoff just a little bit. Even if he grew a little bit and wanted something more purposeful, it was so naïve the way he said it. It reminded me of the naïve little girl that she was when she became a shinigami.

"Don't get ahead of yourself either. There's more to the Shin'o Academy, and being a shinigami, than just being strong."

"Mmm... Why?" He questioned, raising a brow for a moment before he, again, pursed his lips and looked to the side. "I do not think I ever made up my mind one way or the other about it. I recall simply wanting to escape my family but was also fascinated by the exploits of the Shihoin. I think I may have joined the Gotei if I had not found a way to Earth and to Shaoling."

He returned his eyes to her and smiled, a small thing that laughed at that the way life can be so fickle and weird.

"I had asked her about Yoruichi, and she was not keen at teaching me at first because of it, but, as she put it, I spoke my mind and had moved her."

But, not to dally too long on how he became her student, he dropped that topic and returned to think about Erika's explanation. Of course, he doesn't think the Academy just a place for strong people to make a show of, but he's not an idiot either. He's studious, always learning and looking to learn. He's a bit confident in his abilities to take what the Gotei has to offer and excel if he put his mind to it.

"You could say that I do not want to squander what's ahead of me by closing my eyes. It only takes one moment to alter one's path, and if the Shin'o Academy and The Gotei United has more than what I've already seen, I can only say my interest has only increased."

How cute and poetic, why did nobles have such an articulate way of talking which made things sound so pretentious? It must be some kind of unique skill that they possess or something. Jeez.

"Maybe you should do more than just looking then. People that just sit in the back and stare annoy or make people uncomfortable. Just watching people do stuff won't teach you about them."

Book this, study that, for a guy that got around a lot she wondered how much of that experience he actually took in or if he was wasting it just looking at it - trying to study and dissect it - rather than actually doing it.