"Ah, we meet again!" [Closed]

It wasn't often that she'd do this. Normally, she would try to avoid the various bookstores around Seireitei, in case someone possibly gave her own little novels a smashing. However, she needed to pick something up from here--it was desperation that fueled her as she walked in through the front door of the little store, already quickly glancing over at the fiction sections. She couldn't exactly tell which novels were where, but if she saw hers, she'd probably want to see if there were any reviews on them. And then if there were any bad ones, she'd probably stress over it. No, no, she needed to look for what she wanted. "No need to get distracted." She stepped into the store, and a bell rung. Walking through the aisles and not paying any particular attention to the people in the actual building, she started to approach the 'cooking' section. She needed some new stuff to try and cook--she was getting good with the basics now; she didn't burn eggs anymore. Sascha sighed softly, but something had already caught her eye.

She kneeled down and picked up the book with a slightly giddy expression. The World of Tanks was written on the cover in large letters, with what was obviously a tank underneath. She wanted to take it with her already, but decided against it. "But...." She quickly opened the cover to scan through the contents, and almost drooled on the pages within moments. So many tanks... so many... pretty... "Oi! This isn't a library!" She jumped a little and closed the book, putting it back. "Sorry!" She stood up straight and gave her best smile, while the shopkeep looked on in surprise: "My apologies, Koenig-taichou, I didn't realize it was you." "It's fine." She chuckled and decided to make her way over to the fiction section. It seemed that the shopkeep was following her eye--or her hands--and spoke out.

"Lookin' at Mae Fujii-abe's stuff, huh? She's one of the better ones--I love her works." Sascha had to hide her grin before it showed on her face for the rest of the day.

"I'm sure she'd love to hear you say that."

"Checking our your own books now, huh?" She jumped and almost shouted out, but kept her mouth closed enough as she slowly turned to see exactly who was talking to her. She had a fair idea--there were maybe three people in the entire world who knew that she was Mai. Her suspicions were correct, as she recognized the brown-haired Captain standing beside her with a book in her hands--a book that she wholefully recognized. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kakashiyama-taichou." She flipped up the eyepatch and winked to show that she was kidding, before putting it back down. "I was hoping I could get the author of my favorite book series to sign her newest edition... You think you can help me with that?" She tapped her chin and quickly flicked a glance up at where the shopkeeper was standing. "Well I was here lookin' for something, but I'm sure I could give'er a bell." She laughed softly and moved through the aisles towards the cooking section once more, picked out something that looked like 'Recipes for your Children to Make!' and took it up to the counter. The shopkeeper looked down at it and back up at her.

"Looking to teach some children to cook, are you?" Sascha smiled and nodded, trying to give off the appearance of a completely benevolent Captain. He laughed and she paid, and then Sascha left him behind, beckoning for Kaminari to follow her if she wanted to. She didn't want to spend any longer in here than was necessary--especially if she was going to be signing a goddamn book. "I go through all th'trouble of makin' a pseudonym t'publish under, and someone still manages to find me an' ask f'er a damn autograph. Bah." She laughed to herself as she finished speaking under her breath and stepped out of the store with the bagged-up book under one arm. She'd take care of that later. For now? She apparently had a book to sign, and turned back to Kaminari with a soft smirk. "So, you're lookin' to have that book signed by the legendary Fujii-abe herself, are you? I hear she's pretty elusive--but she migh' come out and sign a book for someone as pretty as you." She laughed softly, but roughly, looking at the book that Kaminari still held in her hands.

The Seventh Blade of the Moon was her most recent period novel, and one that had seen successes both here in the Seireitei and out there in the Material World. She claimed it to be one of her better novels, and was legitimately happy to see someone holding it in such a fashion. Even if she wrote to get stuff onto paper, it was seeing people reading her works that made her smile the most. "How about we make our way to my r--barracks," She didn't need Kaminari seeing her bed, "An' I'll get Miss Fujii-abe on the line?" She smiled and nodded, waiting to see Kaminari's response.

As they were walking along, Sascha noticed that there was a little bit of worry in Kaminari's tone. "I'm sorry if me knowing bothers you. I can avoid bringing it up from this point on if that is what you wish, Captain." She blinked and tilted her head to the side, before breathing out and turning to completely face Kaminari, placing her hands on the other woman's shoulders. "It's only going to bother if you go around tellin' everyone about who I am an' what I do. Otherwise, I like the fact that I have such a dedicated fan." Her face brightened to a proper smile, nodding and taking her hands off of Kaminari's shoulders. "If anyone should know, I'm kind of glad that it's you." She avoided mentioning her minor attraction to Kaminari now, instead turning around to lead her towards the 3rd Division's Barracks with a small--but maybe noticeable--spring in her step. She liked Kaminari already, if that were even possible.

Time went by as they reached the barracks, and Sascha let Kaminari in first. She didn't know how much experience the Fifth Division Captain had with these barracks--probably about as much experience as she did with the Fifth Barracks--so she was sure to show her around properly first. Eventually, however, they made their way into Sascha's office and Sascha closed the door behind them. Her office wasn't exactly tidy--not messy, perse, just definitely not as clean as it could be. Lived in. That was the statement, and it was the way that Sascha liked it. As she finally closed the door, she turned around to look back at Kaminari and gave her a soft smile. "Sorry if it ain't perfect an' clean or whatever. I ain't gonna leave it as a sty, but it's gonna still look like someone's in this place, y'know? Therefore, I officially welcome ya to the room where Mae Fujii-abe does 'er work." She held out her arms and smiled. "Now, 'ow about that signin'?"

Even if she didn't realize it herself, Sascha wasn't really paying much attention to the room right now--her one free eye was focussed on Kaminari's eyes, watching them and following their gaze, taking a few seconds just to take notice of the slight glow in them. There was something to be said about the near-awe that Kaminari was experiencing right now. Eventually, their eyes met and Kaminari handed over the book in her hands, with Sascha taking it and looking down at it. It was definitely a new novel, that was for sure. Sascha held it in her hands for a moment, before quickly moving over to the desk and reaching up to her face, pulling the eyepatch off and turning to Kaminari with a soft smile, finally showing her full face to the woman. Her Reiatsu felt lighter, and it freed up some space for her to think a bit clearer. Once that was done, she took a seat at her desk and produced a feathered pen, taking a cap off and starting to quickly write something on the inside cover of the novel.

'To my dear friend Kaminari, may your thoughts be unfettered and your heart be true. From Mae Fujii-abe'

If Kaminari was as much of a fan as Sascha thought, then she'd definitely recognize that line. A smirk crossed over Sascha's lips as she turned her seat around and passed the book back over to her. "'ere. You should treasure tha', y'know. Miss Fujii-abe rarely ends up meetin' with 'er fans, let alone signin' their books." She laughed and turned back to her desk, looking down at the starting pages for her next novel. She would normally go and fight a few hundred Hollow just to get the main source of inspiration and thought... but it was weird. The starting of this novel had been much easier than she'd originally recalled--in fact, she had started this a few days ago. After that night at the bar. She slowly turned to Kaminari, beckoning her to approach. "I think you may appreciate this. It's the first chapter of the next novel I'm workin' on," she got up from her seat and held it open for Kaminari to sit, "You may find somethin' familiar."

If Kaminari were to sit down and read, she would realize that some of the events in the novel's beginning mimicked the meeting between the two--with most of the details to do with her subordinate replaced with more mundane--or even stranger dramas. And then it would become obvious that the main character was showing attraction to the woman. While it was definitely not full-on attraction, there was something growing in the main character's heart that she wasn't making obvious--it was to be the first of Mae's novels involving a female love story, and Sascha was wondering how a reader would react. "Don' get me wrong," she said after Kaminari finished reading, "I just go'... a bit of inspiration from th' bar. I figured I'd write up a first chapt'r an' see 'ow it felt. If y'like it, I might continue on, since tha' means at least one person'll want t'read, y'know?" She gave her best smile, trying to hide the rosy blush that was making its way to her cheeks.

"This is going to be a great one." Sascha gave back a kind smile, trying to hide how she felt in behind it--now that she thought about it, it was kind of awkward that she was basically sitting here with a book that was showing a slight shadow of her affections. She tilted her head to the side and placed a hand on her right hip, watching Kaminari's reactions with a soft expression. "I'll read every book that Mae publishes and I do like it, so keep going. I want to see where this one goes." She chuckled quietly and nodded, smiling brightly. "Oh. I... forgot to ask about it, and it kind of worries me--I also wanna see m'limits. When I touched ye shoulders b'fore, you reacted kinda... worryingly." She folded her arms, breathing out slowly and giving her best kind smile, "I'there anythin' I need to know? Jus' so I don't make th'same mistake again?"

She took a step backwards, before smiling even harder and closing her eyes. She felt slightly naked without her eyepatch and the lack of heavy Reiatsu it brought with it. She wanted to go and put it back on, rather than baring all to this woman--but she didn't mind, either. She felt nice and kind of happy, as she continued to talk with a person who was both a friend and an interest in her eyes. And yet... something felt wrong. She swallowed a little.

She tilted her head to the side when Kaminari began to discuss what her problem with being touched seemed to be. She stood there, watched her face, listened intently. I don't like being touched. You're one of the lucky one's though... Usually I react very differently. Just... don't touch me unless I give you permission or you've warned me first... I have a habit of retaliating in a manner than even Genpaku has problems defending against..." She let out a long breath of air and placed her hands on her hips. Well, that went awkward quickly. "So yes, if you don't mind I would prefer that not happening again." Alright. Standing still and closing her eyes, Sascha decided to take a moment to get a feel for how things were right now. As it stood, she was standing here with a woman that she was beginning to get feelings for. That much was obvious. She folded her arms and let out a sigh, before opening her eyes again and tilting her head completely over.

"Alright, I understand. I'll warn ya next time I go to touch ya." She grinned teasingly, but had her moment immediately cut short by a loud resounding knock on the door behind her. A knock which sounded, if she weren't mistaken, exceptionally urgent. She muttered something about ruining her moment with a cute girl before  reaching down to put her eyepatch back on. "A'ight, gimme a mo'." She pushed the door open and looked out to see a rather frightened-looking Shinigami standing in front of the door. "Er'rythin' okay, Shugahara?" The male tilted his head to the side and blinked. "It's... Shuunara, Koenig-Taichou. But that doesn't matter," she could see that he looked frightened, "There are reports of a group of Fifth and Third Division Shinigami working together that have been surrounded by various Arrancar. It sounds bad--they're on the fringes of Soul Society's dimension, I received the Hell Butterfly and arrived here as quickly as possible. We couldn't contact Hatakeyama-Taichou." Sascha sneered and closed one eye, "Leave it to me, and I'll get Hatakeyama's attention."

Turning around and shutting the door behind her, Sascha gave Kaminari her best possible smile and hastened over to her seat, pulling her Captain's Haori. Once the Haori was over her shoulders, all semblence of casual was gone, and she gave her most serious 'Captain-face'. "Looks like our little meeting is over, for now." She tilted her head again, "If you didn't hear, members of both of our squads have been surrounded at the edges of the Soul Society. I'm surprised that we didn't get anything from the border patrols, but it's fine. For now, it's best that we assist our squads." She adjusted the weapon on her hip and cursed the forces at-large that she couldn't spend more time with Kaminari. For now, though, she would do her job.

She was interrupted by Kaminari's hand. She blinked for a second, prepared to get annoyed in response, but then decided to simply plant her hands on her hips and watch her. "It's fine, I heard. Less talk, more moving. Let's go." She watched Kaminari vanish into Shunpo and laughed softly. She had figured that Kaminari wouldn't want to be seen unofficially in the private office of the Third Division Captain; who wouldn't even allow her own Vice-Captain in. In fact, though she would never mention it, this was the first time anyone else had been in her office for almost three years. She chuckled internally at the thought before quickly getting a mental fix on the area where she needed to be and disappearing with a quick Shunpo. She followed the feeling of Kaminari's energy to the location, landing just outside of the area where there were supposedly Shinigami that had been surrounded by Hollow. It was at this point that Sascha had to wonder... just how had she not known about a joint operation between the Third and Fifth Divisions? Kaminari appeared next to her, and Sascha swore loudly in German. Strewn about the clearing were several bodies in black, all of the bloodied and definitely unrecognisable. Sascha walked up to one and kneeled down, touching the ground beneath it as her hand went through.

"What...?" She immediately felt something hit her side, knocking her away and causing her to slide along the ground with a pained yell. Getting to her feet, Sascha narrowed her eyes and watched someone walk in through the trees, dragging a lifeless body behind him. As her eyes came back into focus, Sascha realized who it was--Shuunara. He grinned, laughed and threw the body onto the ground in front of him. Sascha looked at it and grit her teeth tightly. It was Shuunara. She looked up at him and then back down, before shouting out and getting to her feet. "You bastard, what have you done?" He shrugged, smirking as his facial features transformed and softened. His body grew curves in places Sascha didn't expect, and overall he seemed to appear rather... well, much more feminine. Definitely a woman now, the person stepped forwards with a cruel smirk that besmirched her beautiful face. "I recognize you. Weren't you a Shinigami?" The person laughed and vanished into the darkness, as Sascha felt more and more presences appear. Looking around, she noticed that Kaminari was now nearby, and that they were definitely surrounded. The strongest felt like unevolved Adjuchas, but there were a lot of them, and they were all ready for a fight, it seemed. The mystery woman had already vanished.

"Oi, Kami-san. You prepared to fight? Because it looks like we've both been duped."

"You know her?" Sascha sneered. "I may forget a lot of names, but I never forget a face. 'Specially not one that pretty." She sighed softly, drawing her Zanpakutō and looking around for a moment. There wasn't exactly the smallest crowd of Hollow surrounding them; it looked like it was going to be a bloodbath if it went too far. Unfortunately, she expected it to go too far. Her gaze shifted, from the Hollow, to Kaminari, to the Rukon in the distance. "Do you really think they expected two Captain level Shinigami to make their appearance here? Unless they have a couple high powered Arrancar hiding out there, I don't even see the need for our shikai... do you?" She grumbled, closing her eyes and facing the group. "I don't know, an' I don't care. I just know that we've been tricked somethin' fierce, and I have a hankering for some ass-kicking."

"Don't let them get to the Rukon." She smirked. Didn't have to tell her that one twice. Suddenly dashing forwards, Sascha brought her sword around and effortlessly slashed through the mask of the first Hollow to get in her way. It howled and vanished into nothingness, but Sascha had already turned around and cut through the mask of another. With strangely tactile finesse, she danced and weaved through the creatures that were diving into her. After being in fight for a few seconds, if Kaminari was looking in her direction, she'd notice that Sascha seemed to be in some kind of trance. A claw hit her face, taking off her eyepatch--and suddenly the aura around Sascha lightened up. She appeared to be moving instinctually, and spoke words out loud that Kaminari would notice to hold some kind of poetic note to them.

"And so they danced through the night, their bodies moving through the oceans of stars and light. One would stare into the eyes of one, as the stars and moon gave way for the sun. She placed her hand upon the cheek of her love and brought her face up to meet her own and smiled as their lips pressed together." She faded away for a moment, but then spoke once more, "The battle would consume them both, she already knew. Their fight was far from over--it was neverending, a war that would dominate their lands. Even if she wished to spend her nights with her love, there was nothing that could be done. As she brought down these fears and worries upon her love, they seemed to be allayed by the calm words of the beauty. 'I love you, and as long as you love me, this war has an end.' She smiled with the knowledge that there was a body to return to." When she finally snapped out of it, she was surrounded by the bodies of about fifteen to twenty Hollow that had just thrown themselves at her. She looked over to Kaminari with a slightly dizzied expression. Oh. Goddamnit--Kaminari had killed more.

Letting out a long breath, she went to walk back over to the other woman. Was it over that quickly?

She hadn't noticed the eyes watching the two of them.

"Cry Havoc," A multitude of shots were fired, and the Arrancar that was coming up to the distracted Kaminari immediately fell back in defense of its own body, screeching at the pain of bullets that should not have hurt him. Between Kaminari and her assailant was a man, hunkered up and forming a wall between the pair. This man was very spectral-looking, and carried an AK-47 rifle in his arms that was pointed at the Arrancar. Every time it tried to move forwards, a salvo of bullets kept it back. "And let slip, the Dog of War!" In a storm of steel, the woman who Kaminari had locked down was suddenly pushed back. If Kaminari was paying attention, she'd suddenly realize that she was feeling a little bit more aggressive than before. Sascha had her eyes narrowed and was staring at the woman with a venom that seethed through her very expression. "You killed him, did you not?" The woman grinned, her face covered in shadow, her eyes glittering through the covering darkness. A nod was all that Sascha needed. "Give me your name." The woman grinned and licked her lips, opening her mouth and speaking in a tone that was far too seductive for the situation.

"My name is Lasciel." She giggled slightly, watching Sascha and Kaminari intently. If Kami looked down at Sascha's drawn Zanpakutō, she'd realize that Shikai had been released by the woman, who was now breathing heavily and staring at Lasciel with an expression filled with pure and simple rage. "Then, Lasciel, I accuse you of murder. You will be refused trial. The sentence is death." Without even twitching, Sascha was immediately behind Lasciel with a swing of her blade. Lasciel reacted, but not quickly enough--the weapon caught itself on her side and knocked her away, leaving blood on the ground. She grinned and lunged at Sascha again, howling out. Sascha lunged forwards as well, not realizing that her body was being turned at the same time. As Sascha was about to push the blade into Lasciel's body, she disappeared and left Kaminari in front of her. Realizing what she was about to do, Sascha unbalanced herself and fell to the ground, feeling her ankle twist underneath her own weight, the Zanpakutō dissipating back into sealed form, and the soldier disappearing as well. Laughing, Lasciel vanished into nothingness, along with the Arrancar. Sascha groaned, rolling onto her back and looking up at Kaminari with a weak smile.

"Looks like I'm the injured one this time, huh?"

"You shouldn't have attacked. That woman is up to something. She knew that attacking us was a death sentence, which makes it obvious that her intentions were not to fight. Sascha grumbled and took Kaminari's outstretched hand, allowing herself to be back up on her feet. She leaned slightly onto the other woman's body, feeling her warmth and blushing a little--though that blush was quickly pushed away by the continued words of Kami. "She gave us her name because she wants that name spread through the Gotei; she wants someone to come after her. And though I hate the idea of baiting someone... I have a feeling we should spread that name with little detail... to see who comes asking." She blinked and looked at Kaminari with her head tilted to the side, eyes a little widened. Her eyepatch was still a-ways away. She'd dispatch someone to come and pick it up later. Right now, she simply wanted to get back to her office, her hair all rough and dishevelled. She sheathed her Zanpakutō on her hip and sighed softly, still not speaking much out of embarrassment.

"Can you walk?" She grunted non-committally but leaned against Kaminari a little more to get a bit more time this close to her, as they started their trek back to her office. It took a decent amount of time, with a few almost-falls here or there. Some people looked and gawked at them, but then Kaminari began to Shunpo back and forth, easily carrying them back to her office. "Well then. If only I was that good at Shunpo." She chuckled and hobbled over to her seat (with Kaminari's help), collapsing into it and groaning as she looked down at her now-swelling ankle. "Gorrammit."

"Alright... So, we're pretty much about to trap one of our own into showing themselves." She blinked, narrowing her eyes. She had, along the course of this fight, finally realized exactly why she recognized that woman. "I think the best way is to spread the rumor of the Arrancar Lasciel taking out multiple Shinigami on the edge of the Rukon, but we'll have to falsify the report to make it official and say that we showed up just as she escaped and received the information from one of the recently deceased. If we don't, I fear they'll be too frightened to come asking about her... Any thoughts?" Sascha let out a long breath. "Yeah, I got a though'. Tha' Lasciel ain't her real name." She looked up at Kaminari to see if she was receiving a confused look, and then continued, "Wha' I mean is, I recognized tha' woman. She was a Shinigami, MIA abou' 20 years back. 'ad that exact face. I don' forget faces, even if I get th' names mixed up er'ry so often. And yet... I remember that name." She breathed out and looked to the side.

"Manae Ichijou, Lieutenant o' th' Seventh. Was an acquaintance of mine. Went MIA after she an' 'er third sea' responded t' a distress call. All they found at the site was th' third seat, and a dead Espada." She sneered and sat up, looking at her book. After taking a second to compose herself, she looked back at Kaminari. "So if that's th'case, then we migh' have a problem on our 'ands. You wanted to spread this woman's name, right? We may 'ave to spread an image too. Especially if it's a fake name. But doing that could cause a 'ole host of problems that we might not be able t'handle. Especially from the Seventh." She narrowed her eyes and pressed her fingers together, sighing quietly. This simple meeting had gotten far too complicated. She also needed to apologize to Kaminari, but that would wait.

"You know her full name... We don't need to spread that rumor then... All we need to do is look into the Archives and any other records we could find on the Seventh Division's previous Lieutenants. If you knew her at the Lieutenant, then it couldn't have been too long ago, right? Since the last Lieutenant must have been that... weird mustache and sunglasses guy... Iba Tertrazaeman or something, I don't know." She tilted her head and nodded, "She was Lieutenant up until she went MIA 'bout 20 years back. 'ad been Lieutenant for 'bout 50 years 'fore then." She looked to the side and tapped her chin lightly, trying to remember anything else about the woman. However, everything was kind of blank otherwise. Sighing softly, Sascha then moved her fingers from her chin down to her desk, tapping on it and trying to recall a tune. While waiting for Kaminari to speak again, she quickly jotted down a few of the ideas she'd had for her next novel, making sure to get them all--she finished writing the last idea as Kaminari's voice moved into her ears once more.

"It seems we have some research to do... You don't have to worry about it; it's something that I can take care of easily. Once I find something though, you'll be the first to know. I'm gonna head out and see what I can dig up." Sascha looked back up at her and smiled back, nodding. "I ain't much f'er movin' with this ankle, so I'll probably get th' fourth in to have a look at it. Once I'm out and about, I'll start lookin' meself." Kaminari moved over to the door, and Sascha was suddenly hit with this pang of wanting her to remain here. Even if it was for just a few minutes, Sascha wanted to talk to her just a little bit more. "Hey, Kaminari," Kaminari blinked once and glanced back toward Sascha when her name was called. "Hm?" Realizing that she'd spoken without thinking, her mind quickly scrambled for some kind of thing to say in return. "Ahem. Th-thanks. We... should do this again some time. N-not the fightin' bit, b-but just kinda hangin' out, y'know? I d-don't 'ave many people I can talk to, so I'd like it if we could... keep talkin'. Other than tha'... I'll, uh... s-see y'around. Good 'untin'." Hearing what the woman had to say, Kaminari let a small smile form and then nodded to her. "Sure. See ya around." With that, she turned back toward the door and made her exit. Once she was sure that Kaminari was out of earshot, Sascha groaned loudly.

"Idiot, Idiot, Idiot! You're an idiot, Koenig, an idiot!"

[END THREAD]