A Meeting Of Strangers [Closed]

It was a little after noon and she was done visiting the people of the village that she had come from. She smiled at their reactions and looks of surprise when she showed up. She didn't exactly have a good past with them all, but she understood rather well and did not hold grudges against any of them. As she left, she waved good bye and began walking towards an area she felt that she must return to. Once she arrived, she looked around with a look of contentment and closed her eyes. A wonderfully cool breeze always blew through this area, which is why she used to constantly return. She remembered this place oh too well, the memories being of good times and of horrible times. Still, she felt at peace in this place.

With her eyes still closed, she reached back behind her, above her right shoulder and grabbed hold of the hilt of her Zanpakutō. She began to pull the sword from it's sheath. A beautiful and unique thing about her Zanpakutō is that it seemed to be only one sword, until she unsheathed it. As she pulled it out, the part she was holding seemed transparent, and like a 'ghost sword'. It solidified the moment the blade was completely revealed, showing itself to be a short katana. In the sheath there still was another, normal in length, but she did not draw it. Instead she held the hilt of the first with a tightened grip and finally she opened her eyes.

A look of intense determination lit up within her features like fire. In a quick movement, she moved her body into a stance. As if her practicing at the Academy wasn't enough, she started up again. Swinging her blade gracefully through the air, she moved from left to right as if she were dodging attacks, but that was not it's appearance. Her style of fighting was rather light. It seemed almost like a dance as she moved along the grassy clearing. She used the trees around as a barrier between her and any onlookers, and continued this graceful and almost angelic way of slicing at air and dodging invisible attacks.

"I will get stronger. I must... For her, and for everyone I care about, I will learn to fight and defend them all." She thought softly to herself, never saying a word out loud.

Speaking of angelic it seemed as if the young appeared Shinigami didn't even notice Aoi as he was in tree nearby. Usually he wouldn't be so rude as to stare at someone who thought they were alone but he thought to himelf: I wander why she decided to come here of all places? It seemed like a calm collective place for a person to be alone, and Aoi did decide to rest here after wandering for a bit because of an aura he felt.

After a while he notice her swinging her zanpakto and she finally peaked his interest. He decided at that moment that he would at least go and inquire about her status as a Shinigami as this is only the second one he had ever seen and on top of that she did not seem too hostile besides the fact she looked like she knew what to do in a fight. He leaped down from the tree he was on and cushioned his landing with a bit of his chaos energy, and started walking towards her, he walked the long way around her and rather loudly so she could easily hear him approaching. He kept his distance just in case a battle ensued but made no indication of being harmful.

After a bit of pacing he reached the front of her, he moved his golden locks from in front of his eyes and began to announce his presence. " Hey Shinigami! My name is Aoi Anton! I was wandering if you would mind if I watched you swing your sword a bit!" He knew he probably sounded like a fool and a bit childish, but it was the only thing he could think of at the time and he hoped it would be accepted. One thing Aoi likes more then most other things in this world it's a good chat.

A cool breeze blew through the area and allowed her mind to settle in a peaceful place. She closed her eyes while she swung her sword around, still seeming rather graceful, more of a dance than combat training. Her attention was suddenly caught and she stopped moving. A sound came from behind her. Someone was coming closer, and she did not recognize their presence at all. Gripping the hilt of her Zanpakutō rather tightly, she slowly turned her head to see a young man. Her face held a calm and focused emotion, not showing any sort of fear.

She was alone in the middle of the Rukongai forest, and wasn't exactly the most powerful of Shinigami. "Oh no... Oh, please don't let him be some bad guy..." she thought to herself as she stared curiously at him. He spoke and she jumped a bit, his tone catching her off guard. "Not what I expected..." she thought to herself once again. This young woman did not speak. She kept her voice to herself for reasons that only a few people knew.

"He wants... to watch me swing my sword around?" She asked herself in confusion. She narrowed her eyes at him and then began to take steps back and away from him.

"Why?" she suddenly spoke out in a normal tone. Her voice being carried to his ear would cause a slight disruption in his spiritual pressure. She did not care to keep her vocal abilities in control when she had no clue who this man was, but she purposely kept it short so if it did effect him, and she assumed it would, that he would only have his vision blur and maybe a slight loss of balance would occur.

Aoi smiled sensing the unease in her voice, he cringed a bit at the piercing sound that went in to his ear and he winced a bit. But he recovered as usual. He figured that if he could endure his fathers lectures when he was younger he could endure a Shinigami who had an unusual effect on him. He took a innocent stance, putting his hands up where she could see them and stumbling back a bit as a result of her unusual vocals.

He responded to the shinigami with intrigue wandering if she even realized what he was not of the same race. "Well silly I am an Iramasha! I haven't seen many Zanpakto before and you seem to wield yours quite well!" At that instant, he began to ponder whether or not she even knew what his race was, or that they were angels and demons. He himself was nothing, his pants being both an angel and a demon he was a hybrid. Both a curse and a blessing he had been raised in agony as being an outcast, yet a bit more powerful then most of his peers because he inherited both powers. He had something similar to the shinigami's zanpakto though, his seishin buki. His happened to be the earrings he wore rather then a sword like shinigami. "I mean you no harm I promise. Unless of course I am attacked in which case obviously I would have to defend myself!" After saying this he chuckled a bit, but sounded almost nervous as if worried she would take it the wrong way.

He stared at her intently, studying her movement to make sure they were both in good standing. He was a strategist, and studied his opponents accordingly. He didn't consider her an opponent though, in fact he saw her as someone he could ally with. Times were turbulent in the spirit world but Aoi always seemed to have a sense of preserving peace. As if he thought he could calm the world by himself, though he knew he couldn't the thought is what counts right?

Kaminari listened to his words rather carefully and then a soft, innocent looking smile slipped it's way onto her lips. She lowered her guard and relaxed, feeling that for now she was going to trust him. As long as he did not give her any reason to switch up, she would respect and treat him as if he were a friend. She grabbed the hilt of her Zanpakutō and held it out in front of her, staring sadly down at the blade.

"It's hard..." she mumbled under her breath. This time there was no effect that would harm him. She had her control and was able to speak normally. Her voice was calm and slow, completely opposite of the personality she had. Although, this was only known by those she was close to, which was not very many at all. She didn't seem to have any close friends or anyone she held in high regards, except for one. "I have not been able to learn how to harness Shiroka's power... I can't even grasp my Shikai..."

She sighed and raised her Zanpakutō above her head, placing the blades point down and towards the sheath it usually rested in. She slowly slid it down, the blade becoming transparent and meshing with the other that already lay in the sheath. The moment it was sheathed, it seemed like there was only a single blade again. A look of sorrow stayed in her eyes as her attention returned to the man in front of her.

"You called yourself an Iramasha..." She smiled as she spoke softly, "I have been reading about Iramasha at Shino Academy... I don't know very much though. It's nice to meet you..." She held out her right hand for him to shake if he wished, "So, what brings you here?"

Aoi being the childish person he was grabbed her hand and shook it enthusiastically smiling as he felt more of a welcoming presence then an uneasy one. He looked back curious to why she looked so sad. Turn that frown upside down! I haven't properly introduced myself! I am Aoi "Phoenix" Anton!"His smile seemed to glow and illuminate. His mind was mature when it needed to be but he always loved keeping his childish nature, he thought it made things funner. "So! What's your name!"

In response to her question he simply answered.Well I was just hoping to run in to someone interesting out here, I always wander around the soul society."He held up two fingers. "You are offically the second person I have met that has considered me not hostile." After stating this he gave a thumbs up and smiled.

As he pondered her saying she read books about his race he decided to ask her questions.
So what did it say in the books about us? Were we cool? Did you like our section?"
Aoi had a bad habit out of asking too many questions and at times, talking too much. But in the end game he knew it was better to talk then to be silent at times and vice versa, at this time he considered it a good thing to show her he was harmless to her.

He's childish and happy nature only kept a smile on her face. It was refreshing to be around someone that wasn't so serious all the time, and in a way she thought it was sort of cute. Once he released her hand, she slid her arms behind her back and cupped her hands within one another while listening to him.

"I will be sure to remember your name. Oh... and my name is Kaminari Hatakeyama. Sorry, I should have introduced myself sooner." She still kept herself calm in order to keep communicating with him, knowing that if she got to excited, happy, or started having too much fun, that her ability to keep control over the powerful voice she held inside of her throat was going to vanish. It upset her at times to know that even being happy made her a threat to those around her.

"I'm only the second Shinigami you have come across?" She questioned in her usual clam whisper. "That's interesting... I would have thought you'd see more if you went to the Seireitei." She walked over to a large tree and sat down. She leaned her back against the trunk and tapped the ground near her to show him that he could sit if he wished. "And yes, you're section of my studies was actually rather interesting. I only started studying about Iramasha recently, so as I said, I don't know very much at all, but it's fun to learn some things. I have to say I will never look at the sky the same way again..." She looked up to the sky above, her gaze piercing through the trees above. "I read somewhere that Iramasha live way above us... in the sky."

Aoi looked a little taken back and sad that he had only met two shinigami. He knew she didn't mean it in a bad way but him being the usual outgoing and conservative type, it made him sad that if there were truly that many Shinigami around than maybe none of them wanted to talk to him. Either way he shook his head a bit and sat next to Kaminari. He thought about her name and began to say it out loud.Kah-Me-Na-Ree...Kaminari...He tried his hardest to pronounce it perfectly and knew he might look silly doing it but he didn't care. He thought it should be common for him to remember and pronounce all of his friends names and new ones are no exceptions to his rule.

He began to answer her questions: " Yeah, unfortunately I haven't been able to meet too many Shinigami maybe they just avoid me."He forced a smile but it was obvious. He was used to being avoided which was why meeting new people made him so happy, he decided though, shortly after scowling, that he wouldn't let it bother him and he moved on to the next topic.

" Yes Ma'am! We live high up there! I used to wander if the only thing below us was hell when I was younger, then one day when I was younger my friends and I dared each other to teleport to the place below. Thinking it would be filled with demons we brought sharp sticks" He chuckled a bit remembering those days his eyes filled with joy at the thought of his first true friend, the only one he actually recalls from his childhood accepting him outside of the clan. "And when we got down here there were normal souls. We never saw a normal soul before so we were frightened and teleported back home. I thought that would be my last visit but I guess as time moves on you learn to accept everything else...Everything that is diverse and different in this world." Trailing off he knew he was beginning to rant so he paused for a bit falling silent.

Hearing him attempt to pronounce her name kept the same innocent smile on her face. "You said it perfectly." she said with a slight nod. She raised her eyebrow at the idea of Shinigami avoiding him. She didn't think that they were the type of people to do that, and just shook her head. "I don't think anyone is avoiding you, Aoi. If you are looking this far out, it's no wonder that you haven't ran into many. The most of them are miles from here, near the Seireitei."

Listening to his story about him and his friend, she giggled a little. "Sharp sticks? Demons? No, that isn't us. Hah-" She snapped her hand over her mouth. As she went to laugh, her voice switched and for a moment her voice got rather loud and the pitch became high. She was not in control of it, so if the sound wave hit him, his vision would blur, he'd get a quick headache that would more than likely cause him to hold his head, and his balance would be completely off for the next two minutes. Her eyes widened and she looked to him to see his reaction.

"I-I am so sorry." Her voice lowered into a faint whisper. She lowered her head and placed a hand on her throat. She stopped speaking. Her apology would be the last thing she said to him before she stood up. She set a hand on his shoulder and nodded as a way to say goodbye and walked off with a sorrowed look. She kept her head lowered and her hand on her throat, a single tear dropping down her cheek.

"What are you doing, Kaminari!?" She thought angrily at herself, "I could have killed him. What would I do if I did that.. again!? I have to go back to my training. I need to learn how to control this before I hurt someone else..."

Aoi got up and chased after her walking beside her but he stumbled and fell. His eyes began to widen a bit almost as if he had gone temporarily deaf. He knew he was screaming because he could feel his vocal chords shaking but he didn't know if what he was saying was audible at all: Kaminari come back! It's fine I have a trick my mom taught me I want to see if it will work!"He kept struggling to get up but with every other step his ears would make him cringe and fall to a knee, he finally got it to stop ringing but by then he needed to take a second to himself.

He watched her walking and thought to himself.Damnit Aoi you messed up again, you made another person not want to be around you! He began to bash his head in to the palm of his head. "Baka...Baka...Baka...Baka" He calmed down after a bit and looked up thinking of what to do next.