What is the color of wind? (Open)

[Ai]

Time can pass with a soothing grace so long as one learns how to allow time to strole by without any obstacles. The hot springs--the little dragon often finds herself there. Not far from 1st Division, and possessing some lovely gardens that Kaida likes to indulge visiting. These particular hot springs she is no stranger to, and frequents them often primarily out of her addiction for resting in their comforting warm waters, letting her bare form soak within them.

Sitting chest deep in the refreshing steamy waters, she practically pured as she rested. The back of her head resting on a folded towel layed upon the stone edge of the hot spring pool. The sound of trickling spring waters against smooth ston faces amidst a lovely floral garden, Kaida slipped into a restful meditative state with ease in such a place. The warm waters covering her bare form under relaxed her muscles, lulling her into a deepy contented frame of mind.

While she was not necessarily asleep--she was in a semi-unconscious state while in this meditative disposition. The outside world shut out from her field of vision, and all she saw was the darkness within her mind. But it was not a darkness of fear and foreboding, but rather just a realm deep within the mind. A place where one loses themselves only to find themselves.

Within that darkness--apart of herself did find her, as it so easily does, communication between the two always seems so simple--so easy, "Heyyyyy!", the voice of a cocky young woman called out, "Why don't you ever get bored just layin' 'round in these friggin' pools?"

"Ryuu... it's relaxing", Kaida replied lost within a peaceful state of mind, "You should try it some time yourself...", with a quiet chuckle she went on, "Besides, you didn't get your fill training earlier today?"

"I can go on all day, all night!", Kageryuu responded haughtily, her tone dripping with arrogance, "You just keep stoppin' me just when I start getting on a roll!"

"Uh-huh...", at this point, Kaida knew her zanpakuto spirit was just going to babble on and on about how great she is, and there simply was no stopping. So, Kaida simply just nodded along within her mind, and continued to let herself drift into a more tranquil state of mind tuning Kageryuu out near completely.

But, it was not as if she were utterly unaware. Those who practice meditation often, especially to the extents Kaida does, learn to be aware of their surroundings. Aware of when they are alone, or when someone arrives--sometimes even when being stalked. Meditation has always been about expanding ones awareness not only to the unconscious but the conscious surroundings as well...

[Nagase Hisao]

It had been a long couple of days for Nagase Hisao. While he loved the satisfaction he got from mending the wounds of others and the service he could provide. He would be lying if he didn’t say it was a drain on his strength. So he felt he had earned this rest if only for the day. He had arrived at the hot springs with one goal in mind: to just relax and lose himself for a good chunk of time.

He had actually forgotten that the hot springs were here until one of the shinigami he had been healing yesterday reminded him of their existence. Nagase began to think of what he would do after he left the springs. Maybe he would go get a book or perhaps he would just lose himself in Kido practice. As he thought he disrobed and got hold of towel.

He removed his glasses and prepared to head to the hot springs. He walked in the direction of the hot springs and realized quite quickly that removing his glasses may not have been the best idea since his sight without the glasses was poor. It was ironic that he had bad eyesight he knew considering his zanpakutō specialized in manipulating light.

Finally he approached a hot spring after a few moments where he was lost. He saw someone faintly was in the hot spring but he figured that was nothing abnormal. Nagase prepared to get into the hot spring and decided it would be courteous to at least say hello.

“I hope you don’t mind if I join you” Nagase said while mustering a smile in the direction of the other person.

[Ai]

Relaxing can be a bit too easy for Kaida at times, and the warm waters of a hot spring she is addicted to, making her succumb to their comforts effortlessly. Albeit, despite her eyes always seeming to be closed, she was wide awake despite her meditative state. As mentioned before, when one gains enough skill when meditating, while losing their conscious-self into their own inner-being, they can still be conscious of their surroundings. Something Kaida has learned to do well.

The steaming waters were near perfectly still were it not for the spring waters trickling into the pool spreading little ripples across the pool. Her arms out stretched resting on the lip of stone edge of the pool of the hot spring while her head remained resting on a folded towel laying stones behind her. The gentle breeze swaying the lovely flora and greenery fo the gardens further lending to a peaceful atmosphere to the place.

And Kageryuu was still bragging about how badass she is within Kaida's mind...

But Kageryuu fell silent when they heard someone approaching. At first Kaida held no reaction, the lovely serenity of the hot springs is as much open to anyone as they are herself. But the moment the individual greeted themselves, Kaida's eyes though they seemed to remain closed as per their usual still went wide with a surprise. A bit startled she quickly sat up covering herself up with a towel, ignoring it getting drenched being pulled into the water with her.

"Err... Well...", she said with both an amused and embarrassed smile in response to the situation, "Either yourself or I accidentally entered the wrong area of the hot spring... or they made it a co-ed hot spring."

[Nagase Hisao]

Nagase froze. Was that woman’s voice he had heard? He couldn’t make out enough of the figure to tell gender but he had assumed it was a man. As his eyes strained he realized if it was, in fact, a woman then what he was doing must look absolutely terrible. He stumbled mentally trying to think of something to say to diffuse the impending awkwardness.

“I, uh, I don’t know I took my glasses off so I can’t really see so I just assumed...” he trailed off with a laugh that he hoped covered his confusion. So who was in the wrong spot then or maybe there was a co-ed hot spring Nagase didn’t even know. He could go back and get his glasses but a part of him said to just stay and say it was co-ed. That part of his mind was also prone to making very very bad decisions.

So he stood there completely unable to decide on what to do. He made a point of looking away from the woman in the hot spring and he was surely so red he could heat the strings himself. Firmly holding his own towel in place he looked around for a sign, any sign, that would tell him where to go or what to do but in his frantic embarrassment he found no such help.

Why did embarrassing stuff always happen to him? He never meant for this to happen but his luck seemed to be perpetually bad. He tried again, in vain, to calm down but knowing that there was likely a very close to naked woman in the vicinity made him unable to function.

“So I can’t really see any signs, I don’t suppose you can?” he asked hoping the woman could provide an answer because right now his mind was just grinding to a halt. Ange chose this moment to chime in reminding him that wearing his glasses was probably a good idea for future reference. She was right but she could of mentioned it earlier. Nagase Hisao simply sighed.

[Ai]

Snuggly wrapping the towel around her to give herself a bit of modesty. She paused for a moment. Call it laziness, or simply not wanting her enjoyment of the hot spring to be further interrupted or both with minor issues. The entire awkwardness of the situation she simply let go of in that moment.

So she fell back into her rested position in the hot spring, her head resting on the small folded towel layed across a small stone of the edge of the pool once more. Easing back into a comfort zone near effortlessly, though now with a towel wrapped around her, she rested her arms just under her chest to make certain stays there and the waters don't slowly unravel it. The hot spring she viewed as basically her 'me-time', and damned if she was going to let a minor social faux pas inconvenience her.

Sure, maybe outside of any other time than her hot spring indulgences, she may have been drawing blades or having a foot to face moment. But again, she was not going to do anything to disrupt her most prized routine of the day, which lead her to simply remark with a measure of seeming nonchalance, "Come or go... it's up to you. I'm not leaving from this spot."

She was quiet for a trice but then uttered with a somewhat stern tone, "Try anything funny... and it will be your head."

[Nagase Hisao]

“I won’t, I promise that is certainly not the reason I came here!” he said perhaps too loudly in his flustered state. Nagase could sense that if he did anything stupid there would be no healing kidō strong enough to put him back together. He sank into the hot spring opposite the woman and for a moment didn’t know what to say. He wanted to lighten up the mood and remove some of the tension he felt.

“So, I presume you’re a shinigami, mind if I ask your name? I am Nagase Hisao of Squad Four” he said with the intent of at least learning the name of the woman he was in a hot spring with. He hadn’t intended to spend his day off quite like this but there was no use moping about it. For half a second he wished he’d brought his glasses so he could see her, as any man would, but then dismissed the thought for fear of death.

He put his head back and slowly drifted away though still listening for an answer. The person who had recommended this place was right he could feel the stress floating away. It was liberating and he wondered why he didn’t do this more. Time seemed to flow slowly as he relished the waters warm embrace. Nagase closed his eyes and let the soothing heat calm his mind.

The day was just beginning and in the back of his head he wondered how he was going to tell his friends about this strange coincidence. His mind flipped to Homura who would very likely scold him for not simply leaving the hot spring immediately. His male friends would pelt him with questions about what this woman looked like and he let out a sigh. It was going to be an interesting rest of the day to say the least.

[Ai]

Taking a deep, deep breath holding it for a second, then letting it all out with a long, calming sigh. Kaida eased back into her relaxed, peaceful state of mind. She let her slip into a near meditative state she could hear Kageryuu ranting and raving to her that she crush this man's skull and how awesome she would be at doing it with flourishing grace. But Kageryuun's idiotic boasts and bravado was never anything new to Kaida, and was something tuned out of her mind with great simplicity while in her restful state.

"Kaida Date... 6th Division.", she answered soothingly, while mollified herself.

Falling well back into her rested state, that contented smile grew back on her face like that of a sunbathing cat. She became so relaxed and motionless it was almost as if she were lifeless, and the fact her eyes are seemingly constantly closed, only added to this perception. The only thing betraying that was her small, slow paced meditative breathing, which was a sort of breathing exercised in daily routine and more so did normally even when not trying to meditate.

The gentle breeze blowing over the top of the walls of the spring making tops of the tall greeny and flora sway with it. She loved it, every bit of it--peaceful, quiet--so much to find enjoyment and appreciation within such a setting.

Casually Kaida remarked, "I see quite a 4th Division members go to the various hot springs not in Seireitei, but Soul Society in general... Medical practice for recovery or meditative or recreation, or a bit of all the above?"

[Nagase Hisao]

“Ah, well I guess we do recommend hot springs for relaxation after a wound” Nagase admitted “personally though I prefer a library.” It was true, relaxing in a hot spring did usually lend itself to better healing due to the combined stress relief and simple rest it brought. That said Nagase himself did not often go because he felt that that time could be better spent reading as opposed to soaking.

“I think that I find calm in a library the same way you do here” he remarked noting the faint sounds of controlled breathing from the woman that denoted her focus. Nagase, still holding the towel over his lower half, sunk deeper into the water until only his head was above it. He felt the heat sinking into his body and the tension radiating away with the steam.

It was a calming effect that made him question why he didn’t do this more. He felt his mind trailing off as he lay in the heated spring. Nagase’s thought fluttered about many topics and refused to settle on one. His eyes closed and he drifted into his thoughts. Before he was too far in his own mind he asked Kaida “How often do you frequent places such as these?”

[Ai]

"Hmph.", she grunted a little amused by the question of how she comes to the hot springs, mainly because--she admittedly is highly addicted to hot springs, "You could say I frequent these places quite often."

Gesturing with right hand before laying it back down, to the gardens of that surround the hot spring, "I tend to these gardens from time to time. I visit several of the hot spring in Soul Society... mostly the higher end ones. But this one in particular given, while it's closer to 1st Division, it's also closer to 6th Division given the others are outside of Seireitei... I'm... something of a regular at each of them."

"If I am not here, I'm either at the 6th Division gardens tending to them or training", she never mentioned her meditations, but the gardens, hot springs, and training--they were all forms of meditation to her. Such as her zazen meditations were merely another form of training, the concepts of each of the three things that encompasses her day to day were in no way mutually exclusive from her meditations to her. They were all one in the same.

"But... you frequent the libraries?", she inquired, "Not surprising to hear that from a 4th Division member, I quess. You are all experts in Kido, correct? I never studied Kido much, but I understand and appreciate its value, and those like yourself who expand their knowledge in it. Especially the healing arts, they are a very under-appreciated form of study. Tending to the body is as important as tending to the soul."

[Nagase Hisao]

“I suppose healers are under appreciated but I help not for the glory but for the knowledge that I serve the greater good” he responded. “I am no slouch in combat though I don’t get to be in the field quite as much as I would like. I wanted to be a combat healer, so to speak, but the opportunity has yet to arise.”

He trailed off as he thought of himself a few years back. Then he had wanted to save everyone he could and he was willing to go to any lengths to do so. He was thankful someone had snapped him out of his messiah complex before he’d killed himself. He chuckled thinking of the numerous times he had done something incredibly stupid for no other reason than it was “the right thing”. Nagase faced away from the woman as he began to think of something to say but did not speak.

Nagase decided instead to simply enjoy the heat of the springs. He sank into the water past his head to clear his mind. The feeling of floating in water was soothing as, if only for a second, nothing crossed his mind but staying afloat. Deep breaths escaped his lips as he leaned back on the edge of the spring. The steam may have blocked his view of the woman but he could sense that she too was enjoying her time in the spring.

Not wishing to disturb her too much further he thought it best to keep quiet. Nagase simply leaned on the wall and closed his eyes letting himself immerse in the warmth. All this moment needed to be perfect was a good book.