Sagamiyama
Sunday - Deep Night
The moment of respite was something that was perhaps sorely needed. As the various substitute Shinigami shuffled around and took a breather, Shoko could not help but feel a sense of relief herself. Immediately she got to work healing Bakuto... An arm wrangled, and a chest bruised, it would take some time. It was a wonder he was able to keep talking so much and display so much energy, but she had to chalk that up to the reiatsu flowing through him, and not to mention him awakening to his Shikai... She was unsure of what to make of this, most Shinigami would spend years trying to commune with their Zanpakuto through various methods, and fewer still would find even the slightest result. For the substitutes to reach this level so quickly, she was shocked to be sure.
She had been keeping a close eye on Sara, initially it was due to the curious nature of her sensitivity to spirits. She had also finished a chat with Darius, who had decided he wanted to go back to his house, and stand as it's guard tonight... Given the recent events, she understood his worry, and allowed him to head off. Rei however was a curiosity to her. Her heritage was unquestionable of course, there was no greater proof than who her grandfather was. She knew very little about the Quincy, but they have appeared every so often in old scripts as an anomaly. Nothing more. She had never imagined there would be one, let alone two in this town, although Rei did not appear to be using those powers and why that was, she did not know.
"It is good to see you all getting along... Some fine work coordinating together, perhaps I was worried for nothing", for now, that was the best she could do for Bakuto. The arm will work, and the chest will ache rather than burn with pain. It will be a bit of time before it's fully healed. Shoko stood up, holding her paper parasol aloft, the form of her zanpakuto, leaned against her shoulder as she gently and walked over. The click of her geta both distinct and rhythmic.
"And dear, Sara, you've done well", she offered a few extra words for the young girl, for whom the adrenaline had finally worn off.
"With luck, after we meet up with Tatsuha we can retire to bed", there was a brief sigh of relief in the air before Shoko's phone began to buzz. She pulled it out, flipping open the soul pager,
"And of course, we have no such luck..." The message read plainly...
Come to Sakuhana Park, now!
@yoshua171 - Yuen Kashimori
The late night train back into Sagamiyama was a lonely one, the hum of the tracks, the white, robotic lights and the shifting scenery in the back, mountains cloaked in shadow dotted by the signs of civilization scattered in this inner countryside town. Sagamiyama was by no means the 'boonies', but it was not a town one went out of their way to go. For this young man, this fact has always stood in the back of his mind, and so it was a surprise that Don Kanonji, a rather popular TV personality had come to visit town, and he wound up being picked to be his personal trainer! It was a handsome amount of pay, maybe at least a few months worth! Turns out, he was picked because he had a "spirit-y" vibe... Whatever that meant. He was here on vacation and wanted someone to help with his 'personal lifestyle' for that month. Not to mention he was also really popular in Sagamiyama, so he found himself double duty as a bodyguard too.
Well, perhaps he shouldn't be surprised... This town had a close relationship with the occult and Shinto, and gods and so on. Many of it's urban legends had a lot to do with the realm of spirits. After all his experiences, Yuen was inclined to really face that, after all... He was a Shinigami, or a substitute at least as of a couple months ago.
As he looked out the window again, he could see shadows moving through the skies... Bats? Out of idle curiosity, his eyes followed them, and soon he realized they were heading towards town... Hmmm...? What was that glowing, that should be where Sakuhana Park is, right...?
Well, he was just a couple minutes to the station now...
And then it dawned on him... Those moving shadows, including the ones in the sky, they were not active wildlife or bats. They were just really far away... The faint glints of white he caught with his eyes, straining in the darkness, and the occasional illumination from lights.
They were Hollow.
As soon as this realization dawned on him, his soul pager began to ping... Ah that's right, he's back in the city now so it'll get messages from Shoko and Tatsuha. Hm...?
Come to Sakuhana Park, now!
@Zman - Kael Arashiro
Trading the lush, earthy scent of the mountain air for the salty sea breeze for around a month was really a... Breath, of fresh air, for the young man. He was graduated now, and so they wanted to introduce him to the family businesses for a solid month. Whether or not he'll choose to pick them up later was up to him. Among the substitute Shinigami that had been picked up, he was among the most committed to the role, a forthright young man and with plenty of stamina, able to keep up both lives, even Tatsuha was impressed. Still, the month spent had been one of particular... Thought for him. The premise of him being there with his family was a break, but it felt a lot more like they wanted him to really think about his future. He had paths before him... The sea as his family's patriarchs had taken over, or even the modest business in Sagamiyama they had going.
The sky tonight was a full moon, although it appeared to be quite... Ominous. Normally, the feeling of the full moon was comfort, a gentle light that illuminated the dark night, but tonight it felt oppressive. This was just a small roadstop, a relative was driving him back to his home in Sagamiyama, and they were maybe another 10 minutes before they were home. It wasn't so far though that they were surrounded by forests though, houses and closed shops lined this road, so they were well within city limits, being so late his relative decided to stop here and buy food for the both of them in the convenience store while he stood outside.
Taking a drink of his choice of beverage from the nearby vending machine, his senses perked up. This feeling was familiar, of course, he had been hunting these instincts for the last month. It was a Hollow... No, wait... More than one? His eyes would gaze to the road again.
Standing there was a quadrapedal Hollow, making eye contact time appeared to freeze. It stood facing down the road, it's head turned to the side, as if noticing Kael... Of course, he had a significant spiritual pressure, he would garner attention of Hollow he was near, but just as he was ready to hop into action, it bounded off back down the road towards the city center... Odd. Normally they would just try to attack... As if an explanation for this strange encounter, he felt the Soul Pager in his pocket remind him of it's existence... There was a new message, his first in a month...
Come to Sakuhana Park, now!
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