Wake Up Call [Open]

Gin was indeed taken back, however he wasnt one to put power into curses. He believed everyone had the ability to overcome and control their own destiny, for he had come from the bottom and progressed to that of a Vice Captain level and hadnt even developed a Shikai form yet. If he could do anyone could right? He believed that maybe she had bad luck more so than a curse upon her, but he felt that would be harsh to say to someone he just met. Plus she seemed ready to fight.

"It's nice to see your enthusiasm towards changing this place," he smiled slightly, "But why all alone? If you become a Captain and hold a position that brings followers, wont you have some attachment to them? We can all become stronger together."

Gin was curious how she would take that, would it piss her off to the point where'd she'd strike? or maybe she would take it in and consider it? He grew up with no help, he fended for himself, he struggled, and it wasnt something he wished for anyone else to go through. He didnt feel tougher for it, just thankful that he made it to where he did. As a Shinigami he wanted to prevent struggle and protect, and let his lazy relaxed mannerisms take second place.

"Because-"

She stopped. She was literally speechless. How would she be able to change things? She was just a small runt. Even if she could get a high ranking title like Captain, she would still be one person. one fragile insignificant person that wouldn't be able to change anything.

Her shoulders dropped, her body seemed to relax, but into a sorrowful one. If her parents were still alive, if her friends were still alive, this wouldn't be a problem. Her friends would have been right next to her, encouraging her and standing right next to her as THEY changed the Gotei 13.

She didn't know what to say. She wasn't angry, not at this shinigami, Gineo, but at herself. It just showed how naive and stupid she was, believing she could actually do something by herself. But she was afraid. The pain and heart ache she had gone through, slowly loosing everyone and everything she cared about. It hurt. tremendously. She didn't want to go through it again.

Her red eyes looked at the shinigami standing in front of her. She didn't, and wouldn't, completely trust this man. She didn't even know him. Yet he was willing to reach out and help her. It almost... frighten her. At least from the district she had came from. No one just came and offered help. It was fend for yourself. She locked eyes with him, could she, or would she, even want to make any attachments with this guy?

She could at least ask him questions. Just because she asked questions didn't mean she formed an attachment. She was just getting answers, right? Right.

"Have you spoken with your zanpakuto yet?" She asked.

A breeze picked up, his tight long sleeve purple top stood still against him as his kimono bottoms danced in the wind, exposing his slippers and caused him to tilt his head down to void the direct flow from his eyes. Her reaction was priceless, but he felt it was past poking fun, he may have enlightened her, he may have altered her thought process, but he was sure her enthusiasm and ambition was shot down.

From what he could tell from her question, she was trying to be safe, trying to find comfort. He knew he wouldnt ask someone their skill in a field if he didnt feel adept in it in the first place, so she must at the very least being on speaking terms with her Zanpakutou if not already brushed up with her Shikai. He hadnt accomplished either.

Keeping his head down, he turned it to the right and focused on the hilt of his weapon, a blank stare developing. With his right hand he lightly grazed the handle, almost in a state of confusion.

"No." He said in a calm tone laced with disappointment. He knew that it was something to frown upon, but he just didnt know how to break the ice. He always wished he could talk to his sword, it just hadnt happened yet. His reiatsu coasted him into the Gotei, and he hadnt really been in a situation where he needed more than a simple kitana since being issued a Zanpakutou. He had only recently started developing new abilities, though he was at a work stop without Shikai.

"All I know is his name's Gimanji," Gin knew he had a gator's face, but he wasnt sure how that might sound to anyone else. He didnt really have confidence that he wasnt crazy regarding the issue and was just dreaming it up one night.

"Do you know yours?"

Yoshiko gave a slight exhale as her bangs moved from the sudden breeze, exposing her clearly red eyes, something that most in the academy thought was strange. However, her attention was quickly on the shinigami before her. He only knew his Zanpakuto's name. It was still farther than she was, but right were she expected someone who had maybe just entered the Gotei 13. Good. Her calculations were on track, she wouldn't know her zanpakuto's name until after she graduated...

However, her thoughts were brought back to when she had been training in the rain and she had heard that voice. That voice that told her to get back to training. There had been no one else around her, no one near her. So could that have meant that... No, it couldn't have been... Could it?

Her lips twitched at his question, "No." She replied, bluntly. "I don't know it's name." She continued, "Did it tell you it's name? Was there a faint whisper? Or a voice that felt as if it was right near you?" She asked.

This chance had given Yoshiko the opportunity to ask a shinigami, a real member of the Gotei 13, real questions. This could give her an advantage over the older students and even those on her class level. If there was one thing Yoshiko was learning, it was always know a battle plan, always be ready for anything. So, she was going to ask everything she could think of.

Gineo took a moment to let her questions soak in, still gazing at his sword. He thought about it, and he hadnt really formed a bond. He never really put the effort he could into learning about his companion. In Rukongai, he had on old slightly bent kitana, it said no words and had no inner world, it was just a long tempered jagged blade of steel he used to keep distance between him and danger. A simple survival tool. They taught in the academy that you must work together and fight side by side with your Zanpakutou, they are tied to your soul and die along with you. Up to this point he had simply never needed it.

He knew Gimanji's name not because he heard a whisper, he didnt see it in writing, but what felt like a dream, a visit to his sword's inner world, he saw this gator man. No words exchanged, just a frightening disgusted glare at the other end of the swamp. When he connected eyes with him, he felt it. He knew who it was in his gut. He didnt even understand how you could have these feelings in a dream, the very reason he questioned whether it was a dream at all. He instantly knew it was "Gimanji" staring him down, but he didnt know if he should believe it to be real.

"I just know." Gin didnt want to feel like he was crazy, he didnt feel confident that he was sure of what he saw.

"But everyone's different right?" He was trying to convince himself as well, he felt really behind. He wondered if she had tried to talk to hers, maybe there was a secret to breaking the ice. He looked back up, but sustained a blank stare. He felt like he finally found a goal worth striving for, to become one with his Zanpakutou.

Her shoulders slouched a bit. Maybe everyone was different. just like shinigami's ability, their swords were different to. Without even thinking, Yoshiko unsheathed her blade, looking at it. It was a kodachi, shorter than the regular katana. The blade was black, and the hilt was a dark red. It almost looked like what assassins used to kill. She turned it a bit, letting the sun hit off it.

"I suppose so." She muttered, her eyes looking at the blade, "I don't know, I've been having strange dreams. I'm always standing, but I'm in complete darkness. There's no light, no sound, no life. It's like... I'm no where." She spoke, before she relaxed her arms, holding the zanpakuto to her side, and her eyes looked at him.

Rather he knew it or not, Gineo was being helpful. She was getting a glimpse into what she should be expecting. She didn't and wouldn't for any type of bond or attachment. It was just too painful

Don't cut yourself off

Yoshiko looked behind her suddenly. That voice. That voice again! It wasn't Gineo's voice, it was more soft, yet dark. She sheathed her sword, before looking at Gineo. Was that voice her zanpakuto's voice? But why was it trying to make her have attachments? She gritted her teeth... she would try.

She gave a soft sigh, and walked over to him, and extended her hand, "We haven't formally introduced, Yoshiko Shika, I'm originally from the 76th District." She said, waiting patiently for him

Gin stood up erect connecting eyes with her, breaking focus from his sword and letting go of his hilt. "Maybe she was more conscious than she thought." He pondered about her dreams, wondering if that's what you'd call them. Was she experiencing what he was? Did she really visit a dark void and he a murky swamp? It felt safer to believe they were only dreaming. More logical anyway.

He thought back to his days in the Academy, how he loathed and skipped Kidou class, how he loved and excelled at Zanjutsu. To be so lazy and not mind moving in a sword fight, it was because he had reached a level of comfort where it felt effortless. He could fight in such a way where he didnt exert energy, thus still feeling relaxed when moving if he had to. That comfort was the key, at least for him, if he could reach that level with his Zanpakutou he could easily master his Shikai. The only thing was he reached that level with his sword from being forced to for the sake of survival back in Rukongai. Without this necessity it would prove difficult to develop his abilities further.

"Maybe I could train with her to develop my skills and learn my Zanpakutou."

He wasnt sure that he would benefit either of them, or if it would conflict with her still being in the Academy. He wasnt quite sure if they could fight Hollows together or even spar for that matter. He just knew he would answer for anything that might cause her an injury or death.

Gin really spent too much time overthinking, when he could have been making things happen. He knew what he needed for progress. He knew to get to the top of the staircase he'd have to take that first step. He understood what drive he needed, he just was unsure of how to acquire it.

He extended his hand to grasp hers. "I'm Gineo Tekidan, from the 79th district, awaiting approval of membership to the third division of the Gotei."

He felt good things about a new acquaintance and a possible new friend. His mind was a lightning storm racing about many things, but he halted to exhale respectfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. " He smiled warmly.

The touch of skin sent a small shock through her body. It was.. almost comforting to be able to reach and touch someone. She had almost forgotten how another skin felt besides her own. "Third Division... sounds... nice." She said. now slipping her hand from his. However, when she heard were he was from, it sparked something in her.

She was a bit taken back, 79th District? That had meant he had pretty much grown up the same way as her. Barely making it. However, she had heard that the 79th District, the second to last district, was hell. Her lips twitched with curiosity, "Is it like they say? The 79th District? I've heard that it's hell; fighting constantly for survival, rough thugs and such." She asked.

Common. That's what it was. they had something in common. they had both had their struggles. If he had came from a lower district, then he probably had had more pain and sorrow than Yoshiko. It was also not just the fact that he had came from a lower district, but it was also the fact that he was older than Yoshiko. He was probably wiser in the fact on how to deal with loss and sorrow.

Yoshiko didn't believe in faith or destiny. That was only what the high class and naive children thought in. However, the more Yoshiko was talking to this guy, Gineo, the more she felt that she had to make some sort of attachment. An acquaintance, a person to go to for advice, a sparing partner, or.. even a friend. What ever that voice had been, who ever that voice belonged to, it was like her inner self. The longing of wanting to have friends again, wanting to have family again. She was just too stubborn to let it all show and bring down the thick walls she had created since her parents death.

She was either unimpressed, or zoned out. Gin couldnt really tell, but he wasnt anyone special in the Gotei. At least not yet anyway. She pulled her hand back in a seemingly swift motion, he felt she may still be a bit on her guard with him. Rightfully so, he could be a bad guy in disguise for all she knew. He analyzed her question.

"Is it like they say? The 79th District? I've heard that it's hell; fighting constantly for survival, rough thugs and such."

It was like asking a blind man to describe darkness. For most of his time in the afterlife all he knew was the Kusajishi, the 79th district. It was sort of home to him. As he traveled closer and closer to Seireitei he noticed a gradual change in people, becoming less hostile and blood thirsty, more children and less fighting. It wasnt alot different from the 76th, he had fought battles there as well. She had survived a hell of her own and didnt even seem aware.

"Not much difference from where you started, few more thugs and bit longer of a hike here was all really."

He didnt want to sound pompous or cocky, he was just accustomed to that life. Used to being challenged for what little food or money he may have had. It built him into a skilled swordsman, and constant fighting caused comfort and complacency to hone his lazy demeanor.

"It's nice to meet another survivor." He looked in the direction of the district he had come from. These were the kinds of Shinigami that deserved to defend and protect. The ones that knew loss, and felt real pain. He felt the urge to visit Rukongai, maybe there were more like them that needed help. Or maybe they would make it to Seireitei on their own. That would build a true protector he thought.

"So do you have any special skills or techniques developed with your Zanpakutou?"

He was still without any real special abilities. Perhaps she had progressed in this area to some degree.

"Not much difference from where you started, few more thugs and bit longer of a hike here was all really. It's
nice to meet another survivor."

She blinked, survivor? Is that what she was? She looked to the side, she had survived, but at what cost? She couldn't presume that it had been faith... Just... luck maybe? She didn't even know anymore.

She glanced over at him. He was staring off in the distant. She wondered, had he trusted anyone? He was being pretty relaxed right now. Maybe it was because she was just an Academy student, or maybe he was just confident... but usually someone was confident because they were cocky or strong. Gineo, from what she could conclude, wasn't cocky, so she had to assume that he was strong. It made her keep her guard up just so ever.

It wasn't like she knew he was going to attack her. If he had wanted to attack and kill her, he would have done it the minute she had stepped foot on the gate. So she should at least relax shouldn't she? He was being nice to talk to her, give her advice, even ask his own questions, she should at least do the same.

"So do you have any special skills or techniques developed with your Zanpakutou?"

Yoshiko was a bit taken back, special skills or techniques with her zanpakuto? None that she could think really. "Um.. well.." She looked to the side, slightly blushing. "Well, it's a lot lighter than most, and it's short, the shortest that the academy's seen for a while, but only than that it's nothing really special. and... well, Kidou isn't my specialty, as a matter of fact... i can't even do the simplest of spells." She spoke, becoming embarrassed.