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.
It was late afternoon. Was Neko in the park tired from a day of school? Why no. He didn't go to school today. He was just killing some time before he went about tagging. He had his supplies in a green duffel bag sitting on a bench beside him. Looking over at it, he thought about what to paint tonight? Maybe a giant cat? A giant cat killing society. Yes, that would work nicely.
Leaning back on the bench, he looked to the sky. The sun would be setting soon. In no time at all Karakura would show its true colors. Smiling to himself, Neko thought about how he would spread his message all across this city. Some of his earlier work hadn't even been taken down yet. The cops were slipping up it seemed. Grinning broadly to himself, he thought about how this made things so much easier on him.
Kaki thought she knew where Hotaru was. She thought. Her sister must have wandered off, distracted by something or another, and left Kaki alone. The young vizard's lips were pursed and her eyes narrowed as she scanned the park for her sister. She found a few girls, a few with black hair, but two of them were the wrong height and build and the third was pushing a stroller.
Hotaru most certainly was not pushing a stroller.
"Hotaru-chaaaaaaaan!" Kaki called, cupping her wrapped hands around her mouth as she called. She walked, looking every direction except forward in an attempt to find Hotaru a little quicker.
In a typical Kaki fashion, she tripped. Over a crack in the pavement and onto a park bench - moreover, she landed beside a human, her arms hooked over the back of the bench. "Ow..."
She looked to the human, and then looked away. He probably couldn't even see her, so it didn't matter. Besides, she didn't want to deal with men if she could avoid it. She stood up on the park bench, gaze flitting over the park. She couldn't have gotten too far.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Neko saw the annoying green haired boy. Wait, did that little boy have green hair? Shit, times were changing. Leaning back, the juvenile delinquent was happy with his red hair. Because he was cool like that. Red looked good him. Then again, it didn't really matter if it did or not; he spent most of his time out and about during the night.
For some reason, the little boy made him laugh. Hell, his trip was pretty funny. It wasn't funny when he fell onto the piece of bench beside him. Leaning away, Neko wore a face of disgust. What the hell was wrong with this kid? Then, to make matters worse, the kid didn't even apologize. This little prick looked right at him and didn't even apologize for almost hitting him. What a little bitch.
"Excuse you," he said in a snide tone. Yes, that little bastard called for snide tones. You didn't just didn't almost run into people like that. And it didn't end there; the kid STOOD UP on the bench. With a snide look, Neko looked up at the little boy. He snapped at him sharply. As he did so, the drawstrings of his grey hoodie swayed a little in the passing breeze.
"Hey! You don't just stand up on the goddamn park bench. Kay?" With that, he aimed a push at the kid's ankle. The poor fool didn't know that if he pushed him the kid would fall on him.
"Excuse you," the human said, glaring at Kaki. She turned around, eyes wide. He could see her then? "Hey! You don't just stand up on the goddamn park bench. Kay?"
Having been too surprised at the fact that the human could see her, Kaki's attention was drawn away from the boy kicking her legs out from under her. She fell on him with a thud, and quickly scrambled off. "I...you...You can see me. Ah! Have you seen a little girl in a kimono with a sword?"
She smiled at the thought that she might be able to get directions, but then jumped off of the bench and adjusted her scarf. She pulled it over her nose and frowned. He wasn't really like Adan or even Stour. She thought about running off.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
"I...you...You can see me. Ah! Have you seen a little girl in a kimono with a sword?"
Neko cocked his head at the little boy in a confused manner. Was this kid high? What did he mean he could "see him". There was definitely drugs at work here. Girls in kimonos with swords? Those must've been some great drugs. But shit, this was nonsense and Neko didn't want to make sense of it. He wasn't very good at detecting reiastu.
"The hell do you mean I can 'see' you? Why wouldn't I be able to? Kid, are you high? Cuz I think you're tripping. And no, I haven't seen any little girls with swords. Maybe because I'm not high off my ass. Yeah, that might have something to do with it."
Then the kid started playing with his scarf. He used it to cover his nose. Yeah, this kid was definitely high.
"Hey, are you okay kid? You don't wear a scarf on your damned nose. It goes around your neck. Kay? Like this," Neko motioned around his neck. The kid was damn irritating.
"The hell do you mean I can see you? Why wouldn't I be able to?" chided the redhead, cocking his head. Kaki stepped back, still frowning from behind her scarf. She didn't feel particularly threatened - he was just a human - but she didn't like being yelled at. No one liked being yelled at. "Kid, are you high?"
"High? No, I think I'm pretty short," Kaki said, tilting her head. "Have you been hitting that sake stuff?"
"And no, I haven't seen any little girls with swords. Maybe because I'm not high off my ass. Yeah, that might have something to do with it."
The little girl stared at the strange boy, her red eyes meeting his briefly before she averted her gaze. It was strange to speak with a boy who used the word 'high' so inappropriately. He was very tall, at least next to Kaki.
"Hey, are you okay kid? You don't wear a scarf on your damned nose. It goes around your neck, kay?
"It is around my neck," Kaki snapped, lowering the scarf to its normal, overly large length. It hung just a bit over her chin, enough for her frown to be obvious. "And most humans can't see me because I'm a vi--a shinigami! And so is Onee-chan, but we got separated."
She opted not to let slip that she had hollow powers. Shinigami didn't like it, so she doubted that humans would.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
He actually felt his palm hit his face. What the hell was this little boy's problem? Did he not understand what "high" meant? Or was he just playing stupid. Neko lowered his hand and grit his teeth. He hated it when people played stupid just for the hell of it. It really pissed him off. It was like they were making fun of him for something. Yeah, he wasn't that smart but...well, he just wasn't that smart.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you not know what "high" means? Or are you just being a little smartass? Huh? Answer me!" To further express his anger, Neko stood up and looked down at the kid. Something about this green haired little prick pissed him off. It pissed him off to no end and he didn't know why. Maybe it was that look on his face? Maybe it was his high-pitched voice that made him sound like a girl? Shit, it didn't matter; that kid pissed him off.
"You know kid, you piss me off. And I don't know why. But, frankly, I don't care. Oh, and by the way, your voice makes you sound like a girl."
Neko turned to leave and took a couple steps. But the kid just wouldn't shut up.
"And most humans can't see me because I'm a vi--a shinigami! And so is Onee-chan, but we got separated."
That made the punk kid stop and turn to face the little boy. With a small sigh, he knew he would regret this. Why did he care about some dumb word the kid invented? Why did he care about what was surely a game of pretend that this kid invented. That why he had called him a human. Yeah, that was it. It had to be.
"Why are you calling me a 'Human?' Like you're not one? Hmmmm. Is that what you think in your game of make-believe? And what the fuck is a Shinigami?" Neko didn't respond to the kid saying he got separated from his sister. After all, Neko didn't care.
Kaki flinched as the man responded with anger and yelling - she frowned and stepped back, away from the boy, her lips quivering. He was so mean - she didn't know how to handle it.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled, standing and glaring down at her. "You know kid, you piss me off. And I don't know why, but frankly, I don't care. And by the way, your voice makes you sound like a girl."
Kaki blinked, stepping back again. 'I...I am a girl!"
He continued to interrogate her, throwing a lot of questions she didn't quite get. Why did he think she was pretending? Tears came to her eyes - she remembered Szayel yelling at Adan when they escaped. She backed away slowly, face reddening and cheeks swelling.
"You're awful!" she yelled. "I was just trying to find my sister..."
She pulled her scarf over her nose and eyes, using it to wipe away some of the tears before she brought it back down to her chin. She pulled her sword from her sleeve and said, "Shinigami are people who kill hollows and find souls to send to Soul Society..." she hiccuped. "And usually humans can't see us! Now I think that's a good thing!"
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Neko blinked hard and stared at the little boy. Wait, no. It was a little girl. What the hell was up with that? He frowned as he looked her up and down. She had a very boy-like figure. Shit, he had believed that she was really a boy. Now that he knew that she was a girl, he focused on how ugly she was. She was gross and he didn't want anything to do with her.
All women were bad. He didn't like any of them. He would have to tell her that. He would have to tell her that there was no such thing as a "good girl." The only girl worth a damn had died years ago. And she had left him the necklace which was no the thing that made him strong. Neko didn't quite understand the irony in that fact.
"For a girl, you look an awful lot like a boy. Maybe you should do something about that. You know, stop playing in mud? Grow boobs? That would help a helluva lot. Because, if I had known you were a girl, I never would have talked to you. You disgust me."
She began to cry. Of course, Neko didn't care about this. He just saw her ugliness. The tears only made her uglier. His face became one of anger as he looked down on her. It got red and his breaths became slow and labored as he tried not to take a swing at her. She was bitching about looking for her sister. Did he look like he gave a shit? Actually, he needed to find that out.
"Do I look like I give a shit?"
Then she began to talk about what "Shinigami" were. She had a well-thought back-story to this little game of hers. What the fuck was the Soul Society? Why the hell couldn't people typically see them? And why was that usually a good thing? Wait, he got it now. She was being a little bitch. She didn't like how he was treating him. WELL FUCK HER!
"Hey! I didn't ask to be pulled into your little game of Shini-whateverthefuck and Ho-somethinoranother. Go find your sister and play somewhere else kid; I don't need your shit."
"For a girl, you look an awful lot like a boy. Maybe you should do something about that," the human quipped. Kaki's brow furrowed, even as she continued to cry. "You know, stop playing in mud? Grow boobs? That would help a helluva lot. Because, if I had known you were a girl, I never would have talked to you. You disgust me."
Kaki's eyes narrowed, though her cheeks were still red and she was still sniffing to keep snot from rolling down her chin. At this point, she was going to hurt the human. He was mean - he was rude. He was almost as bad as Xuan - the only difference was that he hadn't hurt her.
Yet. He looked like he wanted to.
"I didn't ask to be pulled into your little game of Shini-whateverthefuck and Ho-somethingoranother. Go find your sister and play somewhere else kid; I don't need your shit."
"It's not a game!" Kaki snapped, holding out her sword in front of her. "Look... Akeru, Hisui Hanasenshi."
Her sword changed, glowing with a faint jade hue as it morphed into her green umbrella with a bladed edge. "If it were a game, I couldn't do this."
"Nee-san," a voice called. Kaki glanced to the side, smiling as she saw her dark-haired sister in a white dress with pink flowers. Was that where Hotaru went? "There you are."
"Hotaru!"
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.