My pain is real!

Kemiko raised her eyebrow slightly as he answered her in a warm and gentle voice, calling her a fair lady. If it haden`t been for her skill to suppress her emotions, she would most likely had smiled amused over being called a "fair lady". Even through she was raised in one of the four noble families, and she was a vice captain, didn`t mean she was a "lady". Kemiko had never seen herself as a girly lady who drank tea and chattered with other female shinigami about boys, of cause she drank tea but the rest she had left out. Kemiko had always wondered how she came to be as she was now, maybe it was her past in the eleventh division who had taught her the "dark", side of life.

"No average spirit would be able to move like that...its very rude to lie into the open face of someone, isen`t it?", she said in a more emotionless tone, the soft undertone remaining. Kemiko buried her left hand into her pocket again, clutching her fingers around her shinigami badge. This male didn`t show any sign of wanting to attack her, but you never knew if his calm appearance just was an act. The male then asked what she was doing out here in the middle of the night, he was really cheap, wasen`t he?

"What i am doing here is none of your businesses...but if i tell you i`m a shinigami, you can probably already figure out what i`m doing here...i`ll give you a little hint to help through...its not about hunting hollows". She didn`t really mind having a small talk like this, even through the person she was talking with haden`t shown his face yet. "Now, since you asked a question and i answered, its only fair if i ask one and you answer, isen`t it?". A brief smile came across her slightly parted lips, sooting up her emotionless face a bit, making her appear more harmless. Kemiko didn`t believe that he was something dangerous, maybe just a spiritual aware human who was a bit lonely? If he had been a bount of high ranking, he would most likely already have recognized her, recently she had been killing a lot of bounts and gained quite a reputation among them. Kemiko didn`t really let it bother her when the bounts she encounted began to talk about how they had heard of her and such, she had been used to it all her life among the shinigami. Kemiko was the only double wielder that had appeared in the past 100 years, making her quite special among the other shinigami.

The female before of him didn't seem very expressive. That is why Hao had decided to keep an even closer look on her expressions. Even the faintest of changes could give him a hint at what his unlikely companion held inside of her. The one thing that the being found most interesting about humans, was how they acted on the outside and how they truly were inside. Basically figuring out what made them tick. But he wasn't merely doing it out of such crude reasons. Rather, he wanted to understand them better. An eyebrow was raised, perhaps a subtle remark at his earlier words. Perhaps he managed to amuse the lady? A funny thought, he was serious about his earlier statement. So long as she seemed nice and all, he treated females with the proper respect and manners. It was only natural he'd call someone of her stature a fair lady. In a way, getting to observe a new acquaintance up close made him somewhat happy. It sure was a change from the anti-social tendencies of the beings of his home realm. You could say it was refreshing for him. His eyes wandered somewhere away for a while, a brief daydream, returning almost immediately as he heard her talking.

Apparently she thought that what he said earlier was a lie. In a sense that was true. He certainly wasn't one of the normal spirits of Karakura passing through that was for sure. But then again, right now, he did sort of view himself as the average. He wasn't out on business after all. Rather taking his time and enjoying some sights. He already felt like making a short remark, but figuring by her disposition, she had more to say. He shifted his balance a bit to his right left, having tired out his left one if only slightly. Taking care to listen to the changes in her voice. There weren't that many to notice. While she had a soft and pleasant sound to her, the tone of her voice was mostly void of emotion. Sort of reminding him of certain people he knew himself. Her next statement wasn't something entirely unexpected. It was only right that she was a bit curious herself. Yet, the brief smile she gave out was more of a surprise. Perhaps she was actually enjoying having a small talk, even though they hadn't made much progress yet. He thought about it, deciding it was only right now that he also had acquired some information on him. Besides. He didn't really care that much about who knew his origins and face. Holding the hood up was more of a habit of his.

He left out a soft sigh, one with no sounds of negativity behind of it. His left arm held up, reaching for his face. The male nodded his head backwards, pulling his hand up at the same time. Basically removing his hood in a fluid motion. Locks of dark hair falling over his forehead and the sides of his head. His eyes briefly glaring up towards the sky, at the stars, before he nodded his head forward again. His features rather unique to the eye, yet not in a bad way. Most of his hair was of a dark, black color and quite spiky. But towards his side he had slight hues of the darkest of red, and a few flocks of white upper above. His optics were of a highly unusual yellow color, almost translucent in a way. His look, while mostly unchanging, could be described as piercing. But one feature must have stood up for her the most. There was a formation of bone directly under his right eye, almost looking like a decoration. There was only a single race with features like this. Right now, it was almost obvious that he was an Arrancar.

"Sorry about that. I didn't quite mean to lie to you or anything like that. It's just that I don't consider myself to be anything that special. There are always certain things grander than us out there..." his tone was actually deeper than before, adding more impact to the whole big reveal. Right now, he was speaking in his natural tone. Deep, perhaps a bit lonesome, yet charismatic and somewhat inviting. His actions showed no signs of offensive behavior at all. Rather, he was being surprisingly friendly with the Shinigami. He took a relaxed look up towards the sky. Mapping out the stars in his mind. Bring his head level, starting eye contact with the female again. "A being of the realm of emptiness and a resident of heaven. How unusual. My best guess is, you're here to protect the balance of the spiritual words. Controlling the flow or so to speak. Perhaps hunting for dangerous elements, other than the Hollows. I don't know that much about how the system works", he said in a nonchalant tone, shrugging towards the end. He was certainly knowledgeable, but it was obvious that he didn't know that much about the Soul Society itself.

After Kemiko had spoken her words, a pleasant silence fell over the two. Despite he was hooded and she was wearing a fake body, concealing her reaitsu and true appearance, the air felt rather light between them, was it fate that had wanted them to meet or simply their curiosity that had brought them together? Whatever it was, they spoke to each other with such relaxed manners that it sounded like they had known each other for years, yet they had just meet. Kemiko noticed that her fingers was clutching the shinigami badge, hidden in her pocket, slightly looser...was she relaxed, maybe happy over finding some company on such a cold, beautiful night?

Kemiko could feel her blood red hair hit against her back softly, making small thuds as they bumed against her coat. She didn`t really know why she had let it grow this long, all of the members in the eleventh division had short hair so it would`t get in the way when they fought their enemies, yet she had grown her`s long while in the division. She laid her head slightly back and let her eyes run across the night sky, wandering into her own thoughts. She was broken out of her "trance", when she heard the sound of something being pulled down, which was hard due to the picking wind. Focusing her gaze onto the male in front of her, she instantly began to take mental notes of his appearance. Even through Kemiko never had been the big "male-hunter", she could`t deny that he didn`t look half bad, he was attractive in his own way. For some reason, his looks reminded her a bit of herself, a haircut and color that stood out and mysterious eyes you could spend a life time on figuring out.

"..That`s true, thats true....we are just the pawns that can be scarificied in order for the "greater", once to live...". Kemiko locked her eyes onto the bone fragment on his jaw, finding herself clutching the shinigami badge tightly and raising her shoulders. Kemiko quickly dropped her shoulders again and gave him a small smile in case he had thought she would attack him. Kemiko would`t raise her hand against a stranger unless they attacked her, anyone innocent or she was ordered to. Kemiko`s personality when it came to fighting made it hard to belive she was a former seated officer in the combat division, but it only made her more unique.

"Good guess...its correct of cause...hunting and killing beings that the captain commander or council sees as a threat towards soul society or the safety of the humans and souls is all we pretty much do...". Kemiko took a few steps towards him and took her right hand out of the pocket, holding it towards him. Since she was wearing gloves her hand`s could`t be seen, but since they were tight it could be seen that she had slender fingers, that most likely were soft.

"...An introduction should be in place, else this conversation would end quickly....I`m Hijami Kemiko..". The fact that she didn`t state her rank or what division she was from, probably meant that she didn`t seen him as a threat, her next words confirmed this. "If your curios about my rank or anything else, you can ask....when meeting new people in my.."free time", i usually keep it to name only, but i won`t let you have questions fill up your head".

Truth to be told, the male himself was feeling a tad bit curious. He had met certain Shinigami before, even a single memorable case in his past, but never had he held a proper conversation with one before. Yet, this curiosity wasn't reflected in his eyes. The optics more focused on her judging her subtle reactions. And at times surveying his surroundings, perhaps vary of whatever souls might lurk around. But he was still calm and collected, his mind now at ease. The earlier silence having left her in what seemed like a short daydream of her own. Maybe she was actually enjoying the situation herself? Having yet to see any negative reactions from the Shinigami standing before of him, he was almost certain this was the case. He wasn't the kind of person to jump to conclusions though. Then again, he had to admit, he found some of her features rather attractive as well. The first thing one would pay attention to was of course her hair. Most likely followed by her eyes and face. From there going down over her entire stature. You could say that she could even be considered beautiful.

He noticed that the female repeated herself a little. Either wondering about what to say or slightly staggering to get the words out. It was most likely the latter, judging by the way she had acted up until now. There was some truth to her words, yet he found them quite cynical and sad in ways. Then again, his views on reality were often much the same, as much as he disliked the system. But there was no use in overthinking things just yet. One could get lost in an eternal trance figuring out the rights and wrongs of this world. It was best to just focus on the moment, being there right now, so long as they weren't engaging in a philosophical conversation. Anyways, it seemed like his guess wasn't too far off. His knowledge of the Shinigami was quite high in a way. Though most of the things he knew about them, he had read from the ancient records of Las Noches. The spirits of the past had kept records on their antibodies after all. Shinigami and Arrancars. Two races most often thought of as sworn enemies. Yet it seemed like she was a tad bit different from the usual. She was actually accepting his presence without any signs of rejection. And it was quite much the same for him.

A hand was hold out towards him. This sudden gesture came as a slight surprise, his eyes opening wider if only little. A closer look at the hand revealing she also had some slender features to her. It could be a sign of slightly closer acquaintance, and mutual peace. The prospect proved positive, yet one couldn't figure it out from the look on his face. Just like the female before of him, he wasn't that expressive of a person. But a motion could be seen. The male removed his hands from the pockets of his coat. In particular, his right hand making some slithery motions. Removing his own black glove. He held his arm out slowly, with a gentlemanly elegance yet a confident motion. The offering of a hand usually meant the intentions of shaking hands. An invitation which he had no intentions of refusing. His own hand, fitting size to his tall stature, softly yet tightly taking grasp of hers. He shook hands with her briefly, before doing a surprising motion. It was so swift, most couldn't realize what had happened until only afterwards. The male had kneeled down, if only for a single moment, and placed a quick peck upon the tips of her fingers. Having closed his eyes while doing this gesture. Returning to his former stance in an instant.

"So your name is Kemiko... Hm, pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Aokami Hao", he introduced himself in the traditional Japanese way. His voice remaining mostly the same as before. Showing a surprising amount of familiarity with her by skipping the formalities. The way he acted, it seemed as though that small gentlemanly gesture didn't change his way of thinking one bit. He was taking it calm and collected, the same as ever. Deciding it was time for him to continue with the conversation. There was something he felt like saying after all. "Ranks and such, they don't hold much meaning to me. It's all about what the people are themselves, and what they hide inside", his way of speaking was as deep as ever. His optics having locked into hers once more. "I want to see the potential hidden away in everything. It seems like I have a tendency of finding hidden treasures", his words were placed carefully, revealing a bit about himself, yet still keeping up an aura of mystery. The faintest of smiles finally entirely visible on his face. Perhaps he was hinting at something. A hidden sign of approval.

Kemiko observed as he took off his glove and shaked her still gloved hand with a firm grab, even his handshake felt like her own. As he knelled down, she felt a small but sudden jolt of muscles in her left leg. He then kissed her hand briefly, his lips feeling oddly warm against her leather gloves..if he handed kissed her hand and quickly returned to his former stance, she would have kicked him in reflex, or at least attemped to. Being a woman, or at least a grown up girl, she had some neutral reflexes that kicked in everytime someone she didn`t know well got to close, those reflexes had become stronger and quicker over her years as a shinigami. With a light sigh she slided her hand back into her pocket, looking up only to be meet by his gaze.

"..I`m glad to see you don`t use formatilities...i usually dislike being called by my last name...", she said with yet another brief smile running across her slightly parted lips. "Then...Hao-san, i`m pleased to meet you as well..."

Even through the smile had disappeared from her face, you could tell by her lowered shoulders and less narrowed eyes, that she was relaxing more. Kemiko remained silent as he finished speaking, taking in every word without removing her eyes from his face. "A tendency of finding hidden treasurs huh?", she repeated out loud, allowing yet anthoder small smile to briefly appear on her lips. "If only all arrancar were as intresting as you, Hao-san, then-".

She was cut off by a beeping sound comming from her right pocket, it sounded like something from a cellphone. With a sigh that sounded almost annoyed, she reached down, picked up the cellphone and held it against her ear. "Hello?...yes this is lieutenant Hijami Kemiko of the eight division, try to relax yourself and speak clearly..". Her shoulders rose slightly and she seemed to be clutching around something in her left pocket, it was clear that the call was important. Kemiko looked at the ground as she listened to the words of the twelve division officer. After a few minutes, she ended the call with a small nod and buried the phone back into her pocket, looking at Hao.

Hao had noticed his female companion tensing up a little at his actions, his smile lasting at least slightly longer due to this. He knew he went a little out of bounds there, being so spontaneous and all. But that was also a part of his persona. Calm as he was, he always went with the direction where his tail pointed, and where the winds threw him. His faint smile was actually a bit apologetic due to this. As if faintly saying sorry for surprising her. So, he returned his hands to his side, completely resuming his former stance. It was sort of weird. There they were, having small talk while just standing around. Without caring about the things that happened around of them. Then again, it was a peaceful evening, one fit for spending some time away from all the conflict. It seemed like his call of skipping the formalities was the right one. Kemiko seemingly didn't like all the tight formalities of the Japanese culture after all. She seemed somewhat sophisticated too with her hair and all. A silly thought crossing his mind. Maybe she was tired of people never getting close enough to her. He dismissed this thought, knowing that one should never draw conclusions too quickly.

He found her reactions rather interesting to view. A lack of contact with females during his days of wandering around as an Arrancar most likely. Certain phrases catching his interest and curiosity even more so than the others. For starters, he was glad to see that she was gradually getting more relaxed. He himself had stood up firm, yet in a relaxed pose that whole time. Showing how he was comfortable even while conversing with someone from the other side of the boundary. But now his curiosity began expressing itself. He had tilted his head to the left, as if curiously questioning what she was about to say. Showing more interest, despite his rarely changing expression. "Hmh? If only Arrancars were...?" his voice expressed more curiosity than before, yet it seemed like his question was slightly cut off. The beeping coming from her pocket interrupting their friendly little chat. His eyes now wandering towards the source of the voice. It came from a cellphone, apparently one of the more important tools Shinigami used for communication.

It was now more obvious that she had at least somewhat enjoyed their meeting. The sound of her voice barely changing to show his slight discontent with how things went. Yet, one of his suspicions was confirmed in the meanwhile. It seemed as though his eyes glimmered with faint excitement for a single instant, amused by the confirmation of what went inside of his heard. So she really is one of the stronger Shinigami. I knew I saw something special in her... the faint smile restored over his face. He knew his eyes were still as good as ever. But as he said, he didn't care about ranks. What he saw was something more than mere power. A gift, raw potential that could be turned into something else. Now, while he was doing some thinking, it seemed like Kemiko had finished her call. A sudden request. Now this was surprising. The look of his eyes turned more neutral and wider, looking gentler than it usually did. He nodded once, settling down his surprise before deciding to speak up. "Yeah. I will try to look after your body with care. It's a promise", he spoke with a softer tone than before, nodding her to go on with her business. He didn't quite expect the female to show this much trust in him. Especially since they were of such opposing races too.

As he agreed to watch over her fake body, the female let out a light sigh and returned his faint smile slightly. "..Thanks, if i were to loose anthoder body the technical research department would`t forgive me...". Her face seemed to soften up for a brief moment, indicating that the her history with the reseach department amused her slightly. She pulled her left hand out of the pocket, her shinigami badge being located between her fingers. The shinigami bage had a diamond shape to it, had a skull on the middle and a 10 inch long ribbon exstending from it, probably there so the badge could be tied to something. Kemiko walked over to him and closed the gab between them by laying her left arm over his neck, looking up at him. Despite the sudden contact between the two, she didn`t blush at all and her face revealed that she had gotten serious. "Try to find some cover nearby, you never know if the bount tries to attack you-", "a arrancar and a shinigami...this world has really changed over the past 100 years.."

Kemiko turned her head slightly upwards and located the source of the voice. A man standing 6.2 dressed in a black suit, white gloves and black shoes, was looking down at them from a fire escape staircase located on the side of a building. His dark red eyes was gazing at the shinigami badge in Kemiko`s hand through his neck long brown hair, he had most likely found out about their races by looking at the badge and at Hao`s mask fragment. "Take cover..". Just as Kemiko spoke the words, she pressed the shinigami badge against her chest, her fake body going limp. Kemiko "sprung", out from the fake body, her eyes narrowed at the bount.

Her shinigami attire was the standard one, the only change was that the sleeves was slightly more body-hugging than the usual uniform, and that the uniform had been split into two. The upper part stopped around 5 inches under her chest and had a V cut that caused the very top of her cleavage to be shown, it wasen`t really revealing considering how low some of the other shinigami woman wore their uniform. The lower part started at her waist and was held up by a narrow white obi that was tied at the front, leaving her belly and lower back exposed. A dark red zanpaktou holster was hanging on her lower back, the tip of the red hilt sticking out from her left hip. A second zanpaktou holster in the same color was hanging across her back, the tip of the handle pointing out from her right shoulder. The two holsters was connected by a red cord running across her chest. Her red hair was now pulled back slightly by a flat crown-alike figure in bronze, the bangs still being left loose to frame her face.

"Two zanpaktou`s and blood red hair...thats how my fellow brothers and sisters describe the shinigami that has been hunting us down like we were mere animals...", the bount said as he pulled his hand out from the darkness of his pocket, revealing a whip in his hand. "Price yourself lucky, my lady...i have respect for someone with your power, i will give you a fast death...". Kemiko simply narrowed her eyes at the bount, drew the zanpaktou from her shoulder and took a fighting stance. Based on her stance, it became clear that she was a skilled swords woman.

Kemiko certainly managed to keep her interest up. It seemed like the evening was about to get more eventful, a change of pace that wasn't actually such a bad thing. That was what he always searched and longed for, a change from the same old same old. Giving off a silent, yet amused snicker at her comment about the research department. That's right he had almost forgotten. Shinigami too had their scientists working on new technologies over time. He should have known better, once having his own experiences with a certain serpent. But the look on his face had returned to how it usually was. Some could even call it serious, if they weren't trying to figure out his hidden depths. Rather, it was his very aura that had changed to mark that the situation was getting more tense. He nodded towards the Lieutenant, preparing for what was to come. Her instructions cut off by the voice of a male suddenly ringing out somewhere from above. His eyes flickering upwards, taking a quick look at who they were dealing with. A very formally dressed male commenting at them. It was obvious that he was out on business. Could this be the target she was talking about.

While the enemy was flinching, Hao took a look towards his far right. His eyes taking a gaze at the one who had dressed in a formal manner. The male having revealed his name. So his name was Lucifer. A minor fact that held only little worth in a combat situation such as this. Something about the Japanese code of honor. Revealing ones name to your opponents. A silly, yet much respected tradition. His eyes shifting back towards the one with the teal hair. The male now holding back a smug snicker. At least he was taking the beating of his lizards quite well. While the other seemed emotionless, the other was a bit more on the manic side. What a contradictory team. "Aw, don't complain Luci~ I know you like creating a mess yourself every now and then. Let's try to enjoy our revenge, shall we? Go, Steinechse, attack!" he shouted out, actually sounding a bit hyper. He really was enjoying this too much. The lizard of stone, as it was named in German, buckled up and attempted throwing itself forward again. Missing a single glimmer of red.