With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
"I'm surprised you're being so honest Toshi-kun, usually you can't wait to talk about your mad skillz."
Toshioni chuckled at this. It was obvious that she was being sarcastic about the whole ordeal which was kind of funny. After all, she couldn't be as outward and flirty as she really came across as. No one was really that outgoing towards the opposite sex. It was...it was damn ludicrous. Realizing that she was just lightening the mood, he didn't try to make a big deal out of it. It was all for his feelings.
"Mizu-chan, please, don't you think that being so 'truthful' is one of the maddest skills of them all? I mean, come now, you think I'm all naive and innocent and vulnerable and shit. I'm pretty good. Yeah."
The truth was that he was all of those things. And, in all honesty, that's how he liked to be. He might act tough and he might act as if he knew everything about the ladies. But, he didn't even know if that's what he wanted to become. It seemed so shallow; it didn't seem like the person he wanted to be. That wasn't going to be him. He wouldn't let it.
"Let's go there! It looks delicious right now."
Hotdogs? Well, it wasn't very romantic but he figured it was really her choice. Let the girl do what she wants and all that shit. After all, this was kind of a date and everything. It was kind of out of his hands.
"Really now? It's funny you should say that; hotdogs look delicious right now to me too."
"I'm gonna beat you there!"
A small spread across the face of the young Quincy. No, no she would not. With his hands in his pockets, Toshioni began to run in the most awkward of fashions. He kept his torso straight and just took the longest strides by pushing off the ground hard. This may look odd to most, but it was only redeemed by his tie flying comically to the sides as he did so.
"Mizu-chan, please, don't you think that being so 'truthful' is one of the maddest skills of them all? I mean, come now, you think I'm all naive and innocent and vulnerable and shit. I'm pretty good. Yeah."
Mizuki became a little red. Yes, honesty was a good trait, but was it really honesty, or was he just coming out of his shell? "I guess... But you played it off before, so how do you explain not telling me earlier?"
Mizuki poked the proverbial bear, again and again. Just prodding away like it's nothing. She wanted to see what else he was, after all, he was kinda mysterious. He didn't share a whole lot of his life with her, but then again, neither did she. Maybe they would on this date.
"Really now? It's funny you should say that; hotdogs look delicious right now to me too."
Mizuki smiled and giggled. She didn't know that he liked hot dogs, but now she did. And now they would eat hot dogs for a date... Not the ideal thing to eat on a date, but it would due for a first time.
"Hehe, hot dogs are delicious." Mizuki licked her lips thinking about a hot dog covered in ketchup and mustard maybe even with some relish. She would have like ten! She was starving!
Not long after she began running, there was a loud shout from behind her... It must have been Toshi...
"NO YOU WON'T MIZU-CHAN!"
"What's that? I can't hear you from the dust you're eating!"
Mizuki giggled as she approached the stand. There was tables in the way though, this could be bad... She then thought about it, and slide across one table that no one was at, then slide under one where people were just standing up. Even for being in a dress, she was still quick, and not afraid of getting a little dirty.
"I guess... But you played it off before, so how do you explain not telling me earlier?"
Toshioni thought about this for a second. She had a point after all. If he had been lying before he couldn't have really pulled that honesty shit off. Unless he was just a really good liar. Well, he wasn't so he gave her a slight look and thought about what to say to her. Actually, it would be best if he didn't say anything. Therefore he didn't.
A shrug was her only response.
"Hehe, hot dogs are delicious."
At this, the young Quincy rolled his shoulder and laughed a bit. Were they really having this discussion right now? Didn't everyone know that hotdogs were utterly and undeniably delicious? Wait, was this really his thought process on this or was it simply the questioning that this was actually being discussed during a date? Supposing Mizuki was just not very romantic, he decided not to let this bother him. Maybe he was just expecting too much out of her. Either way, he needed to respond to that; hotdogs were delicious.
"You're quite right Mizu-chan. Hotdogs are delicious and most enjoyable."
"What's that? I can't hear you from the dust you're eating!"
Letting out a small chuckle, Toshioni figured that there was no point in making a fool of himself too much. After all, she was pretty far ahead. Sure, he could cheat and use Hirenkyaku, but that would be cheating...obviously. So, he kept on running; he was actually gaining on her. But, she beat him to the line as he hopped over the railing that she had slid under about a second or two after her. It didn't bother him to lose a race; he wasn't a chauvinist
"Good run Mizu-chan, good run." He huffed just a little on that. To be honest, that was all for show. His training with Roy made it a lot harder for him to get that winded. But, he didn't want to look like an asshole in front of his date. That wouldn't bode well for him.
"So, what do you want?" As he asked this, the line began to move forward and they would most likely be ordering soon.
A shrug came from Toshi. Now why would he shrug? Was she right? was that the reason? Oh well, she shouldn't read to much into it, she didn't want to be to much like a girl right now.
"You're quite right Mizu-chan. Hotdogs are delicious and most enjoyable."
Mizuki grinned. She might not like eating all the time, but when she ate, she ate. One of her favorite dishes was in fact hot dogs. Maybe with chili sometimes, or even deep fried! She just loved this kinda meal, it was perfect!
Toshi could only laugh and run faster, and that's what he did, but he didn't expect Mizuki to jump and slide, especially in a dress, and that was her victory! Score, one nothing.
"Good run Mizu-chan, good run."
Mizuki huffed out a sigh like 'WTF?' She knew he could of won that with that one thingy... Some quick jump/run thing that she always forgot the name of. All she knew is that he could of been there way before her. She decided to make a joke of it.
"Come on now, you're a lot faster than that. You just wanted to let me win." Mizuki got up close and personal to Toshi, almost as if they were about to kiss. Then, suddenly, she pulled her head back and grinned.
"So, what do you want?"
Mizuki was hoping that Toshi had deep pockets, cuz he was obviously paying for it.
"Ok! So, I want two number twos, a number five with no onions, and an ice cream cone for afterwards." She was awful hungry, and she didn't have to pay a dime, or she didn't think she did.
"I'll grab our seat while you get our food, kay?" Mizuki smiled and wondered over to an almost empty area, except two other tables, on of which had a bunch of girls giggling and whispering, while the other table had a guy by himself.
"Come on now, you're a lot faster than that. You just wanted to let me win."
It was true. He really could've beaten her in any foot race or fist fight. However, in this case, it wouldn't have been appropriate to use Hirenkyaku. This was public and he didn't want anyone questioning it. The untrained eye would've seen him just disappear and reappear. Regular humans couldn't process anything moving that fast. However, the aforementioned phenomena would've caused some social discomfort with the questions that would arise.
"Well, you know I couldn't have used Hirenkyaku out here. I mean, there's people all around. Plus, that would've been cheating. I mean, I gave it the good old college try."
Then she leaned in and got extremely close to him. This was almost uncomfortable. He didn't know if he wanted a serious kiss from Mizuki; not yet at least. So, his face got really red and he kind of got tremblely in his arms. But, he wasn't going to stop this. It would be rude to her and he didn't want to end this...whatever the fuck it was. Mizuki could be good for him and he didn't want to wreck that. Shit girls were complicated.
However, it seemed that Toshioni would not have to make this conversation quite yet. She backed away from him and proceeded to order. The thoughts racing through his head were a cross between "I'm so relieved" and "Shit that girl can eat!" She was ordering an awful lot but it didn't really bother him. He had the money for it and he really didn't have many other uses for it.
"I'll grab our seat while you get our food, kay?" He gave Mizuki a small nod and then proceeded to the cashier. Money wasn't a problem but he didn't want to eat all that Mizuki did. He simply wanted two hot dogs. Nothing really special on them. And that would be what he got.
"I'll have two number ones please." He then handed over the money for both orders and waited for his and Mizuki's food to be prepared.
------------------ The awkward alone guy at the table was just waiting until night and silence crept over Karakura town so that he could get to his calling. Underneath the table, he had a duffell bag filled with paint cans and a painter's mask. He wore currently a dark hoodie with dark, slim jeans. Needless to say, this mysterious stranger was neither mysterious or a stranger. It was just Neko.
He had gotten supper at the food court and was currently taking a small nap at a table by himself. However, he smelled something that pissed his nose off. He didn't know what it was, but it annoyed his sniffer to the point that he actually woke up and sneezed before looking around with a pissed off look. He saw what it had been...Mizuki. A look of disgust crossed his face for a bit. This had been the bitch that had kissed him and curled up next to him. It had been disgusting and he felt like he should tell her so. Yes, he would do that now.
Sliding up from his table, he quickly made the short walk to where she was sitting and pulled off his hood. He let out a small snarl before leaning over the table with his best "I'm scary look".
"Look bitch, what you did last night wasn't cool. You're damn lucky I didn't snap on your ass and do to you what I did to your room. I don't like you fucking stalking me either, so why don't you just butt the hell out?"
"Well, you know I couldn't have used Hirenkyaku out here. I mean, there's people all around. Plus, that would've been cheating. I mean, I gave it the good old college try."
Mizuki laughed a bit. She smiled and responded before continuing to the table. "College? You are in high school still, silly."
After arriving at her table she sat down. There was something kinda off about the lonely boy in the hoodie. What was it? He kinda smelled like wet dog... Wait, that wasn't right, he actually smelt like wet... cat. No, it wasn't, it couldn't be him! NO! He sneezed and looked over to where Mizuki was. Her eyes widened and she ducked as if trying to hide.
"Look bitch, what you did last night wasn't cool. You're damn lucky I didn't snap on your ass and do to you what I did to your room. I don't like you fucking stalking me either, so why don't you just butt the hell out?"
Mizuki remained "hidden" until she was spoken to. She came up saying something random, trying to play it off.
"My coin didn't fall underneath the table, so where did it go?" Mizuki looked around the table then looked up and heard the words that Neko had said.
"Last night... Uh... Umm... What are you talking about kid? How could I be stalking you, and I was never butting in..."
Mizuki tried to hide the fact that she knew Neko from the world currently right there, especially Toshi. If he found out, it might hurt him dearly, it might just break his little innocent heart, and that would be sad. She was trying, but she didn't know how good her lying was, probably not good.
DING! Someone yelled out some random number for someone's order, that order happened to be theirs, which meant that Toshi would be over there shortly, and it also meant that she would have to get rid of Neko, and fast, but that probably wasn't gonna happen... What was she gonna do?!
Toshioni just kind of shrugged and gave her a smile. He didn't what it really was about Mizuki but she worked well with him. His sense of humor and hers were both rather witty and sarcastic. They worked well together. Maybe this didn't just have to be a one-time thing. Possibly they could make this a long-term thing. Possibly. Actually, he wanted to do this again soon. He should ask her that; he should ask that now.
"Hey, Mizu-chan..." No. Now just wasn't the time for this. He could ask this later. After all, they had a whole evening and he could ask this question at any time during that period. He didn't need to rush things. Pushing tempo never worked well for anyone. "Nevermind."
-------------------
"Last night... Uh... Umm... What are you talking about kid? How could I be stalking you, and I was never butting in..."
This bitch wasn't paying attention to him. WHAT THE FUCK? She wouldn't do that. She was too dumb and he didn't want her to be near him at all. As such, he was about to make a scene. If she didn't want to say anything to him, he'd make her look at him. At the very least, she'd see him. So, he took a small shove which forced the table to slide across the food court a couple feet. People were all looking at him, but Neko didn't see it. He was just too pissed off about this fucking bitch.
"LOOK AT ME DAMN IT! YOU LEAVE HERE AND DON'T COME BACK. WHAT YOU DID WAS FUCKING DUMB. WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW IS FUCKING DUMB!"
--------------------
At this point, Toshioni was in the food court and stood only a few meters from the scene that was currently unfolding. There was some angry guy who was a little older than him who was yelling at his date right now. He didn't know what to do. His first impulse was to jump on that guy and take this outside. However, he didn't want to make it look like he didn't respect Mizuki's ability to deal with her own problems. This conflict caused a very sad look on the face of the young Quincy. Having to stand there and watch this wasn't bearable. The food sat in his hands almost forgotten.
Mizuki cocked her head to the side wondering what it was that he was gonna say, then she continued onward.
CRASH.
The table went sliding across the food court. Couldn't he just ignore her?! They left on somewhat good terms, right? Then why was he so angry right now? She would have to do something about this. Before she could say anything, he began yelling at her.
"LOOK AT ME DAMN IT! YOU LEAVE HERE AND DON'T COME BACK. WHAT YOU DID WAS FUCKING DUMB. WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW IS FUCKING DUMB!"
Before she decided to respond, she stood up and glared at Neko with watery eyes. It was understandable, he had ruined her good time, and was now embarrassing her. What else was she gonna do?
SLAP!
Oh, right, she slapped him across the face then turned and started walking away, before she got to far she turned to speak.
"I wasn't here because of you, you inconsiderate jerk! Why can't you just butt the fuck out?!"
After she was done speaking, she ran outside, where it was already dark. She was all teary and sniffling from almost breaking down. She did just forget about Neko, then he showed his angry face and sent Mizuki back into a spiral.
First, there was Toshioni, someone who genuinely cared, someone who she could actually have fun with, maybe even go out with more often.
Then, there was Neko, the bad ass spray painter that didn't like her at all and treated her like shit. She didn't want that, but there was just something about him that she couldn't turn away.
This was bad... This, this was a love triangle, just without the love. Toshi didn't "love" her, he just liked her, and Neko hated her, which isn't even close! As for herself, she didn't "love" either of them, but she liked both of them for some reason.
Mizuki sighed and starred at the moon for a moment.
"I wasn't here because of you, you inconsiderate jerk! Why can't you just butt the fuck out?!"
Neko snarled back at her at this. She pissed him off. She pissed him off too much. NO! This wasn't going to happen here. He could feel it bubbling up inside of him. This wasn't going to be good. He could destroy this whole fucking mall and everyone in it. That'd be a mess he didn't want to fucking clean up. As such, he darted out to the closest exit (hopping down a whole floor). When he got out, he felt himself beginning to turn. It hurt a bit to do. It always hurt when he was pissed like this.
Within seconds, he was a tenth of a mile away. He was in a small park and was reigning pure hell upon a tree. Not only had he knocked it over but was continuing to mutilate it. The tree hadn't been extremely impressive mind you. But it had been a tree nonetheless. A fucking tree. Now he was tearing into it with bark flying everywhere.
But there was something which made him stop. There was a feeling that made him look up from his job and listen intently. It was the howl of a hollow and it called to him. He was just pissed enough to tear that thing in two. But it wasn't nearby enough. It was about a tenth of a mile away right now.
-------------------
"I wasn't here because of you, you inconsiderate jerk! Why can't you just butt the fuck out?!"
Toshioni set down the food and stood there for a second. What was he expected to do now? Wait, why was he even pondering this? He needed to go after her and make sure that she was going to be okay. He didn't know what he would say or how he would make it better. But he did know he did have to go with her. She needed him right now and he needed to be there.
He ran out to her and looked for her outside. Shit! This was bad. He didn't know where she was or even how to find her. He didn't remember her reiatsu from Hueco Mundo. It had been busy there and he hadn't payed attention earlier. It was kinda depressing. He needed to help her and talk to her about this, but he couldn't find her.
However, there was something that did ring in his ears. A hollow was howling and it was close by. Shit, he needed to deal with that. But, Mizuki was more important, at least for now. Toshioni wasn't the most devout of Quincy.
While she ran out, so did that little prick Neko. He had made it out a lot quicker, but he had also went down one level in like 5 seconds. So in this case, she probably would of been out before him. Either way, it was a sad night.
Mizuki sat there staring at the moon. It helped her to collect her thoughts. She knew there was a lot to be thought of, and a lot to decide to do. This was the hardest situation she has ever had to deal with...
"Why.... Why now? How did this even happen? Neko... Toshi..." Mizuki was upset, and it caused a stench that could be smelled by something, something evil.
Mizuki felt her heart drop as she heard a loud growl behind her. The growl alone frightened her to the point where she was almost paralyzed. She turned as best she could, facing the beast before her with wide eyes and a scared expression on her face.
"No..." Before she could say more, the hollow took a swing at her, sending her flying into a light pole.
Mizuki had the wind knocked out of her at that moment, and her purse was dropped next to where she was sitting. What could she do? She needed help and fast.
The hollow crept closer, almost like a lion to its downed prey. It was apparent that Mizuki might not last this. She couldn't breath, and on top of that she couldn't stand up right at that moment. She had to fend it off the best she could.
Bringing her arm up, she made a crescent shape in air, and threw a crescent moon at the hollow. It crashed dead on with it's mask, but it did nothing! Why? She was at full strength... Maybe it was the stress on her body from the sudden attack, or even the fact that she was desperate to fight it off, just to live. Desperation was not her strong suit apparently.
The hollow hovered above her. He grabbed her by her throat and held her against the light post. It began to lick it's masked lips as it prepared to eat Mizuki. Only one problem, she wasn't in soul form, she hadn't been cast from her humanly body just yet, so what would the hollow do? He would throw her some two or three blocks till she collided with another light post, bending it from her body, breaking some ribs.
Mizuki fell into unconsciousness, and soon awoke, with a chain on her chest going to her lifeless body. The hollow now approached her soul, preparing to devour her.