Of Pages and Paths (Open)

[Nagase Hisao]

Some would say that walking down a path while reading a book was plain stupid. Nagase tended to agree with them even though he found himself doing exactly that as he made his way from the Squad 4 Barracks. The book he was reading was actually a lesser known book on practical uses for Kido. A shadow entered the top of his vision and Nagase moved to the left to get out of the way of whoever was coming.

He kept a rather steady pace for nowhere in particular since his destination was already far from his mind. He began humming as he walked in order to break the silence. The path was getting narrower he noticed absentmindedly. Uncaring the shinigami simply marched onward.

“Hey, watch out” called a voice from his left. Pivoting on his right foot he barely managed to get out of the way without looking up. The grumbling from the other person didn’t even register for him. His humming turned into whistling as he continued to be lost in his book. Somewhere in the back of his head though he knew that, with his luck, someone would collide with him or perhaps reprimand him but at this particular moment he chose not to care about that.

[Ai]

Work, work. It was funny to Yue that long ago when she was first apart of 1st Division under the old man's command, she never held a seated position. Not for lack of ability, but more being outside of the accepted norm of his Division. Albeit, she never begrudged the old man, his Division set the standard for all the others. And with her being outside of what he mandated or expected of his subordinates, to promote her would condone something outside of his decree, which sets a poor president.

However, with his passing and Captain-Commander Unohana now running the show. Her motherly ways of delegating 1st Division, while firm was still a bit less rigid, and someone like Yue upon her return to Seireitei had a bit of flexibility to actually gain in rank should she work diligently enough. Yue did just that, and often.

Performing numerous duties for the Captain-Commander in her newly acquired position, Yue found herself doing a bit of a check on 4th Division, where Unohana was once its Captain. It was only natural for someone as matronly as her would still have a soft-spot for the Division she had cared for, for so long. And Yue was of the dutiful mind that she was always willing to act on Captain-Commander Unohana's concerns and wishing to check if various Divisions are running smoothly.

Albeit, as she was making her way to enter the 4th Division's barracks, one of the members of 4th Division reading a book, seemingly lost in own thoughts nearly ran right into her. Albeit, he swiftly moved out of the way when one of his peers shouted at him to look out. Yue merely pursed her lips with a furrowed brow in response to the near collision.

But as the Shinigami nonchalantly kept on going about his way, she asked, "Good book?"

[Nagase Hisao]

Nagase looked up when he heard someone address him. He looked around somewhat disoriented as he returned to reality from the depths of his mind. His gaze fell upon a woman who was wearing something that looked rather different from the standard shinigami outfit. He looked around for a second as if to make sure she was, in fact, talking to him. A small flicker of irritation crossed his face as he lost his train of thought but was quickly controlled. No reason to get mad at someone who was likely just trying to make sure no one got hurt right?

“Apparently good enough for me to forget where I was going” he grinned as he spoke. He shut the book and placed a mark where he had been reading. He wondered how he had managed to avoid injuring someone since he had been so completely lost in his own world. Nagase supposed it was a good thing he had decent reflexes or he might be face down on the ground.

Either way he wondered what the woman was doing here, he didn’t think he had seen her in Squad 4 before but he did not know everyone that well. Maybe she was a higher up passing by or perhaps just from a different squad. “There I go again” he muttered as he felt himself overthinking things. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and continued looking at her as if he would magically ascertain her identity by looking at her. Well, she was rather attractive he thought but other than that opinion her name and anything else that might identify her eluded him.

[Ai]

Yue tilted her head a little at the man, he seemed to get lost in his own thoughts fairly easily. But, Yue had always been a social enough girl, she smiled with a polite warmth as she introduced herself, "Lin Yue, 1st Division.", though she did not mention her rank, larely because she did not think of it. For many years while in 1st Division when Captain-Commander Yamamoto, she was an unseated member. Her current position under Captain-Commander Unohana was... well... still a bit new to her, and lead her to often to forget to mention her rank.

"Just here to do a routine check up on things for Captain-Commander Unohana.", she mentioned off-handedly, "She seems to like to check up on the Divisions from time to time.", which simplistically explained what she was doing there.

Crossing her arms under her chest, her hands gently resting on on their opposing elbows. Though she could not place his face, which lead her to inquire, "Are you new here? Or is it you have been around and we simply never crossed paths? Or maybe a bit of both?"

[Nagase Hisao]

“Ah yes, where are my manners, my name is Nagase Hisao of Squad Four” he bowed slightly before continuing “I suppose we just have not had the pleasure of meeting yet, I do tend to stick to the libraries.” Nagase thought for a moment then noticed something. He could not see a zanpakutō blade on her person. Did she just not carry it around or was it very well hidden.

Well it could not hurt to ask right? “So I see you don’t carry around your zanpakutō sword” he motioned to his own blade which was, as always, on his back with the hilt peeking over his right shoulder and, as he did, he absentmindedly ran his fingers over the gem on attached to the hilt. “Or is it that your blade is so mighty that should it be taken out it might destroy us all?” he joked as he feigned a look of fear.

He could have sworn he heard Ange chuckle in the back of his mind at his rather poor attempt at humor. Nagase made a mental note to get revenge on her for that. Either way, a shinigami who either did not carry around there zanpakutō regularly and wore a non-traditional shinigami outfit yet was a member of the, from what Nagase had heard, very traditionalist Squad One was shaping up to be a rather interesting person. Smile still on his face Nagase intently listened for the woman’s answer.

[Ai]

His remarking that he contains himself within the libraries made perfect sense to her at that point. She tends to avoid such places like the plague. Not because she dislikes books, but for someone as high energy as herself, often feels restless in such places. On top of which her zanpakuto spirit never shuts up when she is inside such establishments, and thereby only making matters worse for her.

She smiled a little at his inquiring about her zanpakuto. In response she casually pointed down at her feet with her left index finger. The only thing on her feet were a pair of red iron bangles dangling around her ankles. The were fairly plain to look at, nothing outstanding about them other than perhaps their color being red.

"I had always been terrible with blade.", Yue confessed, "So my zanpaluto took another form. One that I feel is more... appropriate for one like myself.", she then smiled a little, "Besides, I think they're rather lovely myself. Personally, I can't imagine what it would be like for others to have a weapon carried around with them all the time."

Deflecting the topic off of herself and onto the Shinigami before her, she asked, "What about yourself? No doubt as a member of 4th Division, you must be quite the talent with Kido."

[Nagase Hisao]

“My Kido is good enough to help where it is needed, there is always more to learn and as for Radiance here” he replied as he gestured to the blade at his back again “it has simply become a part of who I am as much as the uniform I wear”. Nagase looked down as he finished speaking toward the bangles Yue was pointing at. Those were a zanpakutō? He had thought that zanpakutō were universally blades of one sort or another. If Radiance was a reflection of him he wondered what her bangles said about her. At this point Nagase realized he was staring at them for longer than was likely polite and immediately raised his eyes to her face again.

“Interesting indeed, can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a zanpakutō in the form of something other than a sword, you must be rather unique” he said sincerely. Not only did this woman wear a non-standard outfit but she followed it up with a non-standard zanpakutō. Nagase found he was rather intrigued.

“But as a note, you may think your bad with a blade but woe unto those who tried to teach me how to fight without one” he did looked at his hands with a small frown. He was absolutely pathetic when it came down to fist fights. With Radiance he felt in tune with his surroundings and he knew what he was doing. With his own hands he felt out of place as if someone had made him slower and less aware. It was an odd feeling to say the least.

Returning his grin to its rightful place Nagase looked back at Yue. “You know, if you are headed to Squad Four’s barracks to check up on us, I could head that way with you” he said as he looked in the direction of the barracks. He might need to go back soon anyways. Who knew how long he had been wandering around reading this book honestly.

[Ai]

She shrugged a little at the remarked at being unique with her zanpakuto, "Former Captain-Commander Yamamoto's zanpakuto in its zealed form was little more than a walking stick. There are others around whose zanpakuto aren't exactly the norm of a blade of some kind. Though... I guess it is pretty uncommon.", she then shrugged flippantly.

"But what an interesting encounter.", she remarked a little amused by this, "You find a symbiosis with a blade. I'm a clumsy oafish idiot with one. I find a flow with hakudo. You can admirably slap box. Polars and all that."

She then turned on a bare footed heel and begun walking again, "But, if you want to follow along into your Division's barracks to check up on things for Captain-Commander Unohana. You're welcome to it.", and begun walking for the Division's captain's office.

[Nagase Hisao]

“Opposites indeed, perhaps it was not luck that we met then” Nagase chuckled as he fell into step beside her. So there were others who did not have a sword as the base form of their zanpakutō, interesting. He resisted the urge to continue questioning her about her bangles since he figured he didn’t particularly enjoy showing off Radiance. Either way it was not going to be too long before they arrived at Squad Four’s barracks.

He tried to think of something to say but was miserably failing. Nagase grasped the gem around his neck and simply ran his fingers over it has he thought. He felt himself retreating into his thoughts again but made no attempt to stop it. He figured he’d have something to say soon anyways.

As he thought he began to sing lightly. It was an upbeat tune that he had learned a while ago in order to cheer up one of his friends. The music soothed him because it was just a background noise to whatever he focused on, sort of like a mantra. As he walked he picked up the volume since he was, at this point, not aware enough of his surroundings to be appropriately embarrassed.

[Ai]

Walking along, her dainty bare feets pitter-pattering on the ground as she walked with an energetic step. She had a bit of a sprightly march to her step that held a kind of whimsical nonchalance to it. Walking with her arms casually crossed under her chest with either hand resting on its opposing elbow. As they strolled into the barracks her entire attitude came off as though it were just another day.

With a furrowed brow and head tilt out of curiosity in reaction to Nagase's murmurring a tune. But she just continued along without saying a word about it. Only occassional giving a side-glance as her kept with the tune. It was not that she disliked the tune, it was more--she was not certian what to say or ask about it, so she just moved on. Largely because he seemed to fallback into his own thoughts, and she did not want to disrupt whatever he may be ruminating upon.

When they reached the 4th Division Captain's office, she gave a light knock at its door before saying, "Captain Suzuka...? This is Vice-Captain Lin Yue of 1st Division here on behalf of Captain-Commander Unohana.", but there was only silence from the other side of the door. The logical conclusion being the Captain was out, which happens from time to time. After all, every Captain has a lot on their plate, and not all can be found in their office the moment you arrive.

But Yue had other duties, and other Division barracks to visit before her duties were done for the day. She snickered out of her embarassment of the situation as she scratched the back of her head, "Eh... Looks like the Captain isn't in at the moment. You 4th Division folks always on the move. But that just means it's time for me to move. Ha ha!"