Lies of Little Ladies [Kaminari/Tsubine/Mayumi]

The afternoon sun in the Rukongai was not the most welcoming thing. Kaminari was out here because she had been finding the Rukongai much more welcoming recently, even with the heat. The people were just normal, more present than in the Seireitei. The egos among Gotei higher ups were just exhausting. Besides, Kaminari just felt sticky remaining there most of the time, like she was slowly being overwhelmed by something gross, dark, whatever… She just knew she hated it. So, a trip out to the Rukongai, where things felt pure, was needed.

Walking down one of the many streets that made up this labyrinth of newly built shops, suddenly she felt something slam into her. Kaminari looked down to see a child, a little girl no older than 10, fall on her own ass after clearly running into her. Kaminari raised an eyebrow at the child and lifted her to her feet with ease.

"You okay?" Kaminari asked.

Mayumi looked up from her spot on the ground as she was suddenly lifted, not given much of a chance to recover from slamming into a wall. She had been here before, but apparently not learned her lesson. Luckily, this wasn't a steel wall, but something more person-based. Now on her feet, she looked up to the brown haired, blue eyed woman and an idea sparked. She looked back over her shoulder and pointed to a group of people running down the alley toward them.

"Don't let them take me, please!"

Kaminari looked up to those following the child and instantly felt her blood boil. She gently pushed the little girl behind her and waited for them to approach, taking up a fighting stance to defend the little girl. In feeling the child cower behind her, Kaminari's determination to keep her safe was solidified further.

"You're safe with me." Kaminari said, ready to kick some ass.

Kaminari took a good look at the three walls of muscles and flesh in front of her. She sensed mild power coming from them, but that would not fully attest to their strength. Kaminari narrowed her eyes at the leader as he demanded the child. Yeah, like that was happening. She could feel the little girl press into her.

“Please, I don’t wanna go with them…”

“Leave the child with me, or I am going to blast holes through your chest,” Kaminari said and decided to take that moment to release her reiatsu, causing her hair to float around. To protect the child, she put a hand over Mayumi’s head and created a small shield to prevent any of the spirit pressure from affecting the small girl.

Kaminari rolled her eyes at them, “Yeah, because a little running scared from a bunch of large men is something any decent person is just gonna let go, right?.”

Kaminari raised her hand and rapidly drew a few symbols in the air, colored in red energy. “Geki,” Kaminari said, ignoring the incantation and still all three men were suddenly surrounded by reiryoku and being held still. This was meant to be a quick test of their abilities and drive for taking the girl. She could paralyze them all with a few flicked of her finger, so how much would they push the issue?

"Are you done? What comes next will hurt." Kaminari said as a ball of red energy formed in her hand, hinting at the next use of a more destructive kido: shakkaho.

Unfortunately, Kaminari's focus on protecting the girl prevented her form seeing Mayumi cover her mouth and trying to hold back her laughter, while making faces.

Kaminari was mildly impressed with the strength of these thugs. Not many in the Rukongai had the ability to fight against her kido control, even if she abandoned the incantation. Reports of stronger souls were coming from the Realm Enforcement Division, so maybe this group was a part of those types of people? Neat.

A flare of reiatsu more powerful than her own caught her attention. She shifted her attention that direction, ready to throw the shakkaho, but the energy vanished in an instant. “Tsubine?” Kaminari blinked. She went to speak about kicking these guys’ ass, but was thrown off by his question. Kaminari looked to Mayumi.

A glance around the area and a release of her kido showed people calming down. "Oh, so you're one of those little gremlins, huh?" Kaminari grabbed the child by the back of her collar. "Are you supposed to be with these men, child?" With a mousy 'eep', Mayumi struggled against Kaminari's grip. "I don't wanna go, Daddy!"

"Daddy!?" Kaminari pulled the child into her arms more normally, grabbing the girl's chin to make Mayumi face her. Kaminari took a good look. One of the things Kaminari remembered about Kanna was her face, smile, and eyes... Kaminari was stuck, deep in thought, unmoving, just holding a confused child in arms.

Kaminari was silent while she looked at Mayumi. There were emotions flooding back, hitting her like a sudden gust of wind. She didn’t understand where they were coming from, and she had to hold back the sadness that was rising within her.

Mayumi was confused and getting more creeped out by the minute. Why was this strange lady staring at her. When daddy reached out to take her, Mayumi quickly escaped to her father, reaching out and clinging to him like a scared child would.

“I needed a break,” Kaminari finally spoke up, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and sighed before asking sheepishly. “Can… Can I come with you?” She clearly had no clue of the occasion until now, but she wanted to see Kanna’s grave.