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.
After that there was a clanking sound and a rather loud "Damn." A sword had fallen to the sword. Well, what was left of a sword. It was a nodachi that was broken about two feet up the blade. The edge was jagged as this break wasn't made to make the sword easier to manage. This break was a battle scar and it didn't heal. It wasn't the only battle scar he had, but it was one of the most extensive.
With bandaged rigs, Izaya Kogi bent down to pick up his broken sword. It hadn't surprised him that he couldn't use his Shikai. He couldn't manipulate his Rieryoku at all anymore. His konpaku was seriously damaged. It was one of the reasons why his ribs were still broken. You couldn't heal what didn't flow right. As he picked up his sword, Haishutsu Megami was silent. He hadn't heard her since the accident. He had tried Jinzen and it didn't work either.
He sheathed his sword and took a seat on a bench in the shade. Taking deep breaths, he shut his eyes because of the pain. The ribs screamed in protest at this. Expanding and contracting hurt like a bitch. Taking a small look around the training grounds he didn't see anybody he knew. He missed Kin. He missed Kin so much.
"Y'know, you don't have to use such vulgar terminology around a lady!" A smart ass remark from a young pink haired lady standing behind the young man. Her pink hair was tied into a ponytail for she had been training. Her eyes were as pink as her hair as she stared down at the man.
Her arms were folded over her large breasts as she talked.
"So, what's the problem, can't get it up?" Another smart ass tone came once again, as she referred to his nodachi. She looked at the broken blade and cocked her head to the side in confusion.
Her tone changed. "What happened to your zanpaktou?" she was somewhat curious to know what had happened, but would the young man respond to her after her teasing? She didn't know.
Yumiko sat next to the man and put her hands to the side, holding herself up while leaning back a bit. "Sooo, my name is Yumiko, sorry for being so... well, umm..." she really had no idea how to explain how she was, maybe in time he would understand, or maybe he would not eve think of it.
At this point, Yumiko's breasts were popped out in front of her, almost popping out of her very clothes! Hopefully the man wouldn't really notice...
"Y'know, you don't have to use such vulgar terminology around a lady!"
Turning his head, Izaya saw the woman standing there. She was taller than he was, by a couple of inches maybe. She was built well for a woman, he supposed. She wasn't like Kin; she had boobs. However, that wasn't what caught his eye immediately. Her hair was a vibrant color. It was a bright pink; kind of like the hair of those Arrancar that he had fought. But, more than anything, it reminded him of Kin. Why did so many things remind him of her? Shit.
Either way, he had to respond to her. Should he tell her not to eavesdrop? No, that was just idiotic. And she seemed rather outgoing and outgoing girls would slap people. But, were people really that outgoing or was she vulnerable on the inside? It actually didn't matter. He didn't know enough about her to disarm her and he needed to observe a little more. He might as well just apologize and ask her not to sneak up behind him. Not having an arm made him jumpy.
"You know, it's not nice to sneak up behind people. Especially cripples. We tend to swing first and ask questions...well, we don't actually ask questions."
"So, what's the problem, can't get it up?"
"Ha, if raising my nodachi was the problem, I wouldn't be so down in the dumps."
He ignored the fact that her statement could be considered an innuendo. If he didn't react to it as such then he had won that round. She wouldn't point it out, and if she did he'd play dumb. No one typically came out into the open that they had just made an innuendo. It wasn't the style of most.
"What happened to your zanpaktou?"
Her tone changed as she spoke. She seemed to sincerely care about what had happened to his sword. It was quite a story but he wasn't sure that he trusted her with it. He should just give an ambiguous answer. That way he could just keep it vague and she would just have to live with that. She wouldn't pry. That wasn't something you did to someone you just met.
"Oh, you know, a fight. You should see the other guy, an Espada."
After he spoke she sat down. She was taller than him so he slouched to kind of dispel that fact. She then introduced herself. Yumiko. Izaya turned the name over in his head for a second. He hadn't heard it before. Then she apologized for acting the way she did. Well, she did know something about social protocol. Good for her. Now he had to introduce himself. It was only polite.
"Oh, you know, a fight. You should see the other guy, an Espada."
"Espada? What the hell is that? Yumiko thought to herself. It was weird, she hadn't ever heard of those, she hadn't even come upon them in studies or anything!
These thoughts flew through her head. She had tried to recall anything, everything about that subject, but nothing. Then her thoughts were interrupted.
"Kogi Izaya."
"Nice to meet ya, shorty!" Yumiko grinned. She could tell that he was trying to hide that he was shorter, but she had noticed.
Kogi Izaya... Espada... I will have to remember this, maybe I can find information on it in the library. Or I could just ask. No, I'll wait.
Yumiko sat up and turned to Izaya, leaning slightly forward. "So, tell me Izaya, how did you lose that arm of yours? Use that are to much?" Yumiko made yet another smart tone to him. She was poking at him, seeing if he would bite.
Let's see what makes him tick. This could be interesting... Maybe I'll back off some more. I should.
"Sorry, I'm a bit of a smart ass, heh." Yumiko laughed a bit.
Izaya's eye twitched in anger at this. He sat up and looked over at her. She couldn't be more than two inches taller than him. There was no way that she got to make short jokes about him. He wasn't going to sit here and hear this from her. It wasn't justified for this uppity pink-haired harlot was sitting here and insulting him. Disowned or not, you didn't insult Izaya Kogi.
"Yumiko-chan, you're like two inches taller than me. I don't think 'shorty' can really apply in this situation. Come now, it's really not all that appropriate."
"So, tell me Izaya, how did you lose that arm of yours? Use that are to much?"
He couldn't ignore the innuendo that time. She was insinuating that he pleasured himself: a lot. He actually laughed at that one. Just because it was pathetic. You didn't just insult a cripple for being crippled. It wasn't tasteful comedy and just made you look like...well, a bitch in this case. Should he call her on it? Yes, he should.
"You know, it's not polite to poke fun at cripples. Short I could handle, but this arm injury is pretty serious. It got blown off in a gran rey cero from the Espada I fought. The fall broke my ribs, shattered my sword, dislocated my shoulder and hips, and stretched out my leg."
"Sorry, I'm a bit of a smart ass, heh."
At this he laughed a bit. It kind of hurt his ribs actually. Yes, she really was a smartass and didn't know all that much about boundaries either. He looked out at the practice field before sighing and kicking up some dirt.
"If I can let you in on a little secret...I noticed."
"Yumiko-chan, you're like two inches taller than me. I don't think 'shorty' doesn't really apply in this situation. Come now, it's really not all that appropriate."
"Oh, I'm so sorry mister sensitive. Did I hurt you're feelings?" Yumiko made yet another comment.
Then, he got real sensitive. She found a couple of his weak points, or what seemed to be. She would lift her comments for now, hopefully he wouldn't stir her more.
"You know, it's not polite to poke fun at cripples. Short I could handle, but this arm injury is pretty serious. It got blown off in a gran rey cero from the Espada I fought. The fall broke my ribs, shattered my sword, dislocated my shoulder and hips, and stretched out my leg."
This was it. Something he was serious about. She couldn't be much more disrespectful to him. She looked down for a short moment. Maybe she shouldn't be so smartassy to people she just met... Maybe that was just the way she worked sometimes.
"If I can let you in on a little secret...I noticed." Izaya made his own sort of remark.
His comment made Yumiko laugh a bit. He made a commit just like she would, in fact, it made her smile.
"That's pretty funny. Me and you could get along pretty well if you keep that up." Yumiko gave a slight wink. She was still playing her strong suit, but she was hiding it a bit more, seeing if he could still get them.
"Oh, I'm so sorry mister sensitive. Did I hurt you're feelings?"
To this he responded with a dumbstruck look. She had just joked around about what was a serious injury. It was a detriment, no, it was the bane to his very existence as a Shinigami. This was the thing that made him doubt what his future would be. This was the thing that created so much tension between him and everyone around him. This was the most traumatic thing that had happened to him in his life. And here she was, poking fun at it.
But, he had to compose himself. Lashing out at this busty, odd-haired stranger wouldn't help him any. He just had to remain calm. That didn't mean that he would just idly sit by and not let her know that this subject was off limits. Izaya took a deep breath. This was it; it was show time.
"To say the least, yes, you hurt my feelings. I mean, it's not like it's a serious injury or anything that completely changed my way of life. Tis a flesh wound."
"That's pretty funny. Me and you could get along pretty well if you keep that up."
Izaya gave a sharp laugh at that. He didn't even know if he wanted to get along with this girl. She was actually quite mean in her smartass comments. She didn't know the boundaries of social protocol and just plain common decency. He would have figured that it would've been just common sense. You didn't poke fun at the one armed guy. And, even if he did want to get along with her, why would he go through the trouble of having to keep stringing together jokes? It sounded like a big hassle to him.
"You know, being so witty is a hassle. I don't know if I can keep up that level of comedic genius. My apologies."
That was his prettily strung-together way of saying "I don't want to be a smartass." It was just oh so polite.
Somehow Yumiko noticed how serious these things were to Izaya. She hadn't wanted to upset him, and yet, he had taken some of it to heart. She felt a little bad now.
"To say the least, yes, you hurt my feelings. I mean, it's not like it's a serious injury or anything that completely changed my way of life. Tis a flesh wound."
He seemed to play it off, trying to be strong about it, but she could tell it hurt. She could see his serious look, and just feel the seriousness emitting from him. Well, now she knew what he was serious about. And she wouldn't touch the subject once, ever again.
Then, Izaya gave out a small laugh. It was sharp, almost sarcastic. Did he thing that she actually was somewhat funny? No that couldn't be! Either way, she liked that he was letting up on the seriousness. But this almost sarcastic laugh made Yumiko want to poke more fun at him, but she decided to play it cool and wait for something else to smart off too, if at all.
"You know, being so witty is a hassle. I don't know if I can keep up that level of comedic genius. My apologies."
Yumiko glared at Izaya. This was sarcastic, it had to be! It sounded so harsh and cruel, Yumiko was about ready to get back by poking at his injuries. Then she decided to play along with it, make things a little more interesting.
"Well, it does take a lot of work, and you do not have to apologize for your lack of comedic skills, I truly do understand, sweetie." With her last word, she smiled with a flirty like smile. She was truly trying to get under his skin, in a different way than before, but she would have to play it just right to see how he would respond.
"Well, it does take a lot of work, and you do not have to apologize for your lack of comedic skills, I truly do understand, sweetie."
This was accompanied by a flirty smile. Now, a flirty smile alone didn't get Izaya's attention. However, when coupled with the obscene amount of cleavage Izaya definitely felt that he was being hit on. With a slight raise of the eye brow, he studied her body language. She did seem sincere in this flirtation. But, there was something wrong in this moment.
It was Kin. Typically he would casually go along with this notion. After all, she was what some might call beautiful. However, he didn't know how Kin felt about him. And, as crazy as it sounded, that meant the world to him. He didn't want to lose her and that could be done any number of ways. He could be discharged as a Shinigami; he could royally piss her off (he had a head start on that one); finally, he could betray whatever trust there was between them by flirting with some other woman.
Biting his lip a little he looked over Yumiko a bit. She was kind of pretty. But, physical appearance really didn't matter to him. Of course, it always helped. She was no Kin, however. Kin was...Kin was beautiful. Wait, when was the last time she had even talked to him? Not since she had hugged him and told him to get out. Shit. Did she even deserve all this devotion from him? Who was to say he couldn't test the waters with this girl? After all, he and Kin weren't even an item. Especially not an exclusive item.
"Oh, thank you dear. You know, I was so worried that you wouldn't understand my poor ailment. Not having comedic talent has afflicted me for years."
Izaya began to wonder off in thoughts, just as she had wanted. This little motion had gotten into the mind of this young man. She found somewhat of another 'weakness' if it could be considered that.
"Oh, thank you dear. You know, I was so worried that you wouldn't understand my poor ailment. Not having comedic talent has afflicted me for years."
"Aww, you poor thing. Have you ever been able to be even somewhat comedic?" Yumiko seemed to inch closer. She was still flirting with him, and using more body language to do so.
She then began to think; What if he actually thought she was hitting on him? She wasn't, was she? She had then noticed she was, and decided, what is the harm in it? It's just a little friendly flirt. Nothing more, and nothing less. Now, another thought crossed her mind. Did he have a girlfriend? Someone like him had to, I mean look at him. He looked well taken care of, like someone was caring for him. Unless he was doing it himself, someone had to be helping him with anything, everything. She thought that she should ask, but put it in a different way.
"So... Umm... Izaya, do you by chance have a girl that you are interested in? I mean, look at you, you're kinda cute, what girl wouldn't be chasing you around Seireitei?" Yumiko blushed slightly. She was really getting into her flirts.