My pain is real!

Of course, as always, the guy was a fucking pervert. Asking her if she knew 'how to handle' a 'big gun' like the one she was packing around. That, or a chovenist pig who actually doubted her skill with her weapon of choice. "I've taken enough lives with it and others like it, I'd say I know how to handle it just fine. Don't make me demonstrate my point."

~Smell? Death? What?~ That comment of his had the woman second guessing herself, cautiously extending her senses to take a better feel of the place. The way this jerk talked grated on Ryder's nerves like a nail on a chalkboard, but the man was right. This place DID feel like death, and in a manner worse than most hospitals. A glance past the departing douchebag into the emergency room's entrance showed a distinct lack of any disembodied souls in sight, and emergency rooms ALWAYS had one or two hanging around the entrance...

"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out," she muttered indignantly, following behind the man. As of yet he was STILL her best lead, though she might wish it weren't so, and she would make damned sure she didn't lose him until she got what she needed from him. To that end, Ryder kept her rifle (synthesized wholly of Reishi and thus, invisible to any hospital patrons or staff who might otherwise be frightened by the sudden appearance of such a weapon) locked on his back, watching for any sudden moves. ~I'm keeping my eye on you Red.~

Taro allowed Emi to snatch him behind her as he never felt a reason to be defensive with the women. He watched as she aimed the riffle at Roash but nothing happened as the group made their way into the hospital. As the transgressed deeper into the hospital Taro felt an eerie feeling. Unsure of what he would encounter in the hospital, Taro released his quincy powers. A single sling shot rested in his right hand. He thought about it and he realized that this would be the first time Emi saw his Quincy power. He wondered if she would have any questions about his unique Quincy "bow". This thought was quickly released from his mind with the noise of boxes falling behind him. The hospital really started to creep Taro out as the hair started to raise on his neck.

When the group made it to the desk, Taro noticed documents written in Japanesse Kanji. He was fluent in speaking the language but struggled to read it. Looking at the documents and at his two elders he realize the group had hit a standstill. It appeared as if no one knew to read the kanji. That is when and idea came to Taro. He removed his cell phone and snapped several pictures of the documents. Thinking quickly he sent the picture to one of the girls he had charmed at school. He would ask her to translate but he would have to wait. "Here, wait for her to text back." Taro told Roash while he handed him his phone. Taro then prepared himself for what ever was coming his way.

Shining faintly in the sky, the nearly full moon cast it's pale light across the quiet, peaceful cityscape, providing more than light enough for the woman on the hunt. Elegantly, Emiko leaped from building to building, rifle in hands at the ready, eyes and ears scanning the horizon for trouble as the tail of her leather cloak flapped behind her in the wind. Damp, cool spring air could be felt tingling the flesh, though the crisp night sky held not a single cloud.

Seven days. It had been an entire week since First Lieutenant Barrie (Ryder) Hughes had arrived in Japan, seeking the nebulous Japanese Quincy Council of which her grandfather had spoken so highly, and tonight the situation weighed heavily upon her mind. ~Pffff, they probably don't even exist anymore. It's been 65 years since he lived over here, and if those old bastards are anything like he was, they might have let their clan die off rather than risk letting women become something great.~

So here she was, in the middle of the night, rifle in hand, hunting Hollows. The city seemed to be breeding them nightly, and so far Ryder was the only one she'd seen capable of putting an end to them. You'd think with this many Hollows the so called 'Quincy Council,' or at least SOME other Quincy would have shown their faces, but no. The safety of the city seemed to have been left entirely in the hands of a woman who was more Marine than Quincy. Sure she'd seen a couple Shinigami here or there, slacking off and stuffing their faces with manjuu or lazily sending a peaceful soul to it's final resting, but none of them were around when they were really needed.

Shaking the woman out of her mental bitching came the subtle tingling of her 'spidey senses' the instincts Ryder had been developing over the past year, though she still didn't fully understand it or how to fully employ it. Leaping towards the disturbance she sensed, the marine felt herself slipping into combat mode, all distractions fading away, until all that remained was the mission. Find the hollow, and terminate it with as little collateral damage as possible.

Swiftly, the woman bounded from rooftop to rooftop, covering the distances in blinks of an eye, hurrying to reach the target before any civilians could fall victim to it. ~Mission Objective: seek and destroy without revealing yourself.~

Quickly twisting the cap off a bottle of spring water, Arazia Castelliti planted her butt on the short granite wall encircling her town's homely water fountain, and hurriedly downed the chilled liquid. Relishing in the sensation as the smooth, silk-like water washed over her parched lips and rushed down her dry throat, she couldn't help but reminisce about the last time she had been able to do this. The last two weeks had been laden with such a hectic work schedule that the only things she had been able to do was work, work, and do more work. Having been recently commissioned to compose the soundtrack for an upcoming Japanese Drama, the only time she had been able to leave her house in the past sixteen days was when night swung around and she had to perform her usual DJ-ing gigs.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh." Licking her moistened lips as she rested the now-empty plastic bottle beside her, she stretched her limbs and smiled contently at the feel of her joints popping. There was most certainly nothing like a midnight run in the town to loosen up and clear her head. As it had been her first night off since the commission, she had seized the opportunity to take the much needed run along her favorite areas in what was now, her home town. Resting her hands, palm-down, on the cold marble wall upon which she sat, Arazia tilted her head backwards and looked to the sky above her. At her ears, the soothing sound of Bon Jovi's 'Runaway', boomed from the confines of her ear plugs, compelling her to tap her feet to its rhythm. It was a nice night indeed.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh." Licking her moistened lips as she rested the now-empty plastic bottle beside her, she stretched her limbs and smiled contently at the feel of her joints popping. There was most certainly nothing like a midnight run in the town to loosen up and clear her head. As it had been her first night off since the commission, she had seized the opportunity to take the much needed run along her favorite areas in what was now, her home town. Resting her hands, palm-down, on the cold marble wall upon which she sat, Arazia tilted her head backwards and looked to the sky above her. At her ears, the soothing sound of Bon Jovi's 'Runaway', boomed from the confines of her ear plugs, compelling her to tap her feet to its rhythm. It was a nice night indeed.

With her fingers now moving to the song's beat, Arazia scanned the sky and smiled at the almost full moon as she basked in its soft glow. This had been her reason for seeking a breather at the fountain; with its lack of artificial lighting and its soothing rustle of trickling water, it was a rather tranquil spot. As her ipod's selection switched from 'Runaway' to Michael Jackson's 'I'm Bad', she hummed softly to herself and drew her gaze from the sky to look around her instead. Once midnight descended, it wasn't an unusual thing too see a lack of people roaming the streets, and today was really no different. The Circle was quiet and peaceful, even though every now and then a couple would wander out from a side street before ducking down another. Tapping her fingers on the solid surface as she soaked in the environment, she was about to belt out a lyric along with the King Pop when a tickling sensation engulfed her body.

"You've got to be shitting me..." With her headphones still in tact, she looked about her more carefully this time, knowing that somewhere in the shadows a being, one who had been human at some point, lurked. Rolling her eyes at this knowledge, she began contemplating her options: Should she A. make a quick getaway and continue her jog uninterrupted, or B. remain where she was and cross her fingers in hope of the beast wandering off on his own? Leaving would perhaps be the best choice of action, because then she would be more guaranteed the continuation of her peaceful night; on the other hand though...why should she let some realm hopper drive her away from her coveted spot? Before she had a chance to make up her mind however, her senses tingled yet again and she reacted by quickly turning her head in order to have a better view of the building roofs to her right.

The wind whipped through Emi's cloak as she bounded from rooftop to rooftop, struggling fiercely to rip her hair from it's bindings. Grey-green eyes scanned the streets, racing to find that hollow before it could do any real damage. Drawing closer, the woman recognized the source of the monster's reiatsu as one of the open venues of Karakura Circle, the sweeping street that circled Baku Park.

~Damn it, even this late I'm sure there are going to be some people there, dumb teenagers especially~ she cursed mentally, gripping the rifle firmly in both hands. With a final leap, Ryder got onto the mall's roof and rushed towards the sensation on the opposite end.

Just as she reached the edge of the roof, the hollow leaped out of the dark alleyway from whence it had come, rushing towards the granite fountain out in the open where a young woman lay, headphones in her ears and clearly oblivious to the danger headed her way.

Without time to take a proper prone sniping position, Ryder dropped to a knee, bringing the rifle to bear and sighting in. She would only get one shot on this, and had to make it count if the girl on the fountain was to live another day. Carefully leading the shot, Ryder waited until the last second when the Hollow pounced for his prey and would be less able to react, before at last pulling the trigger.

The large boom of the M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle could be heard echoing throughout the streets as the shot was fired, a heavy concentration of spiritual energy surging from her Hamaya charm Mekyakku, through her body and the rifle, into the bullet, and rocketing towards the pouncing hollow. Like a lightning bolt it struck home a heartbeat later, the silver reiatsu shrouded bullet drilling through it's mask and burying itself into the thin pavement below.

So close had the shot been timed, that the hollow fell harmlessly over where the woman lay as it disintegrated into nothingness, it's composite souls transfered safely to soul society.

With her mission complete, Ryder Hirenkyaku'd back the way she'd come at full speed. After that shot, cops would be swarming the area in mere minutes, and she couldn't be there when they did. The marine had barely managed to get her license for the weapons to begin with, being caught having fired in public was in no way acceptable.

Realizing that she hadn't been the only one to sense the non-human beast, Arazia closed her eyes and honed in on the two very different reiatsu signatures surrounding her. From what she could tell, the creature was actually quite weak, much more so than the person hunting it. This sat well with her, especially since she was in no mood to fight anything tonight, not even some low-level hollow who had been too tempted by her unrestricted reiatsu to think clearly.

'Tick tock, tick tock...' Silently timing the moment of collision between hunter and prey...or hunter and hunter as both unfamiliar beings were targeting something, a quick movement to her left announced the arrival of the fodder hollow. Her senses now sharply tuned, Arazia felt the muscles in her arms tighten, a signal of her body's preparation to strike and take action if need be. She sat still however, and waited for the moment when either the hollow would be upon her, or her "rescuer" would snag it.

The decisive action came at the most pivotal moment. Echoing through her peaceful me-space, a cannon like boom ripped through the night before a tiny silver object flashed into her peripheral view before ripping into her would-be killer. The impact was enough to send the masked being flying much closer to her position; in fact, it sailed the creature directly above her, where it thankfully disintegrated so quickly that there was nothing left to taint her. It had been a pretty close call there.

'Impressive...an EMR, its been awhile since I've seen one of those.' As no stranger to pistols--especially since she had been taught before puberty how to decipher different guns by sight and hearing--she released a small smile while sniffing the air and taking solace in the pungent smell of gun powder. Withdrawing her previous decision to ignore whoever had surfaced to be her shining knight, she abruptly got to her feet and turned to face the building from which the shot had no doubt been fired.

"He..." the words had barely been out of her mouth before the stranger took off, an action that prompted the girl to arch a slender sculpted brow. A quick gleam of blonde hair had been the only thing left behind to identify the person. "Strange..." shrugging her shoulders and as if willing to forget the entire event, she was about to resume her position on the wall when it hit her. 'What kind of rescue was that anyway? Had he or she been even a second longer, I would have been dead. Well..I wouldn't have been dead...but some hapless sap would have been devoured by that thing. A vocal warning would have good...a simple "Hey, move your ass..." something.' Jumping back to her feet, she tugged the earplugs from her ears and stuffed them into the side pocket of her shorts. It wasn't that she was riled up, far from it, but come on...if you were going to save someone at least do it properly.

With long strides, she made her way quickly to the same building the stranger had stood upon. Then after looking to her left, right...and left again to make sure no one was glancing her way, she took a leap that sent her soaring to the roof. Once there, she surveyed the area quickly, trying to pinpoint the didn't-even-attempt-to-warn-her rescuer. "Ci!" Catching glimpse of the same blonde hair retreating in the distance, she took off towards it, her long and limber legs leaping from roof-top to roof-top. As she was faster, it didn't take long for Arazia to close in on thee blonde haired, cloaked-clad stranger.

"Hey!" Gracefully, her feet touched atop a brick-building neighboring the one upon which her prey had recently arrived, and she called out to them.

By the time her pursuer had leaped onto the roof herself, Emiko had already gone further than a normal person would have seen or heard, especially in this light. As a result, she paid no attention to the shout she had heard, of a word she did not understand; assuming-and rightly so- that it was the voice of the girl whom she had saved calling after her rescuer. Or attempted killer rather, as an ordinary person would have perceived the incident.

Long, swift strides borne on the reishi of the wind carried the blond woman far and fast, covering a good block or two before her pursuer drew close and delivered her second shout, this time in Japanese. ~To catch up with me so easily... what is this woman?~ she wondered to herself, turning to at last take a better look at her.

What she found surprised the Quincy almost as much as the woman's speed had. Here standing across the roof from her was another mixed-breed, one who's Japanese heritage showed far more than her own, although it seemed to take some of the best traits from... Mediterranean stock?

A few inches shorter than herself, with a lithe body and long black hair, the woman was a stark contrast to Ryder's taller, thicker build, with strong curves forming her shape, topped by a crown of tightly woven, flaxen hair. "Hey yourself" she returned in Japanese, though her relative weakness with the language showed, rifle leaned against her shoulder in the hopes she wouldn't have to use it. It was never pleasant killing people.

Lifting a hand to tuck a lock of loose hair behind her left ear, Arazia stood rooted to her spot as the now stilled hollow-hunter turned to face her. 'A woman?' Quickly, her sky-blue eyes scanned the gun-toting figure as she realized its gender. It wasn't as if she had been expecting a man per say, but upon seeing the hint of blond hair earlier her mind had flashed to the younger Japanese guys, who had taken up the fashionable trend of bleaching their locks. A swift profile from head-to-toe was enough to clue her in that this person was clearly not Japanese, as Caucasian features were more than fairly evident. Sweeping from the woman's spectacle adorned face, she took in her impressive build, and what appeared to be some type of military uniform. Arazia arched her brow at this and studied the outfit sheepishly. It really hadn't been that long since she had quit the supernatural world--so to speak--yet, she couldn't recall any spiritual human who was part of the military.

Realizing she wasn't the only one engaged in sizing up her company, she shifted her gaze from the light-haired beauty and to the weapon held at the woman's shoulder. As she did this, the stranger spoke, her accent so thick that it confirmed Arazia's earlier suspicions.

"Impressive weapon you got there." Arazia's tone was friendly in reply, more so than usual for her, but as her interest was somewhat peeked upon seeing another female gunslinger, she felt obliged to be somewhat hospitable. Still, a slight frown tugged at the corner of her lips as she remembered the real reason for chasing the woman down. "Thanks for back there and all..." not knowing how proficient the woman was in understanding Japanese, she articulated her words better, choosing this route instead of being presumptuous and switching to English. She was about to add something slightly chastising about the lack of a vocal warning during her "rescue", but then clamped her mouth because after all, what sense was there in retorting about that now? At the end of the day, even if she had been an average human, she would have still been safe.

"I understand the language quite well, I'm just a little rusty speaking it," intoned the blond, speaking amiably despite the no-doubt unintended slight. The last thing she wanted was to cause a fight with this apparently spiritually empowered young woman. If anything they should be allies, and it would be terrible to have to kill her.

~Especially considering the risk she poses. Catching up to me clearly indicates that this woman has got to be on a comparable level.~ Her mental analysis complete, Ryder at last turned her attention to the other statements the girl had made, contemplating how to best answer them after having dealt with her 'dumbing down' her speech.