Wandering [Closed]

The emptiness of her bedroom kept her awake at night quite often. She always laid there in the silence, the still air making it uncomfortable to find any way to truly rest. Hours passed her by and she tossed and turned in her bed. Realizing it would become one of her many sleepless nights, Erina got up from her bed, put on her shihakusho, and left her room. She did not care whether the guards saw her or not and was allowed to pass them by without the usually harassment she got from her squad-mates. They knew her well enough not to bother her now and neither said anything to the other. The cool night air was a nice feeling on her skin. There was a calm breeze that blew through the Seireitei tonight. This meant she would be up longer than she wanted to. Erina would get no sleep tonight.

Luckily for her, this night would be different than the others where she wandered the Serieitei. For once, she wasn't alone in her journey. Though it was some time before she ran into anyone that wasn't a guard, Erina noticed someone walking along out of the corner of her eye. She did not recognize him and he had no notable insignia that would allow her to figure out who he was or at least which squad he was from. When she came across his path, she just stared at him. "Hello. You're out late."

The night was cooler than the nights past, the season slowly changing. Genpaku wandered the darkened passages, content to let his mind wander from thought to thought as he tried to pick apart the nightmare that had awoken him. He rarely dreamed much anymore, and even more infrequently did he have nightmares; there was a time when that was different of course. Shortly after he was brought to this new life and for decades after he did have nightmares, but there were always more personal than this one. This was ruin on a large scale; the Soul Society as a whole burned in his nightmare. In nightmares past it was never something so large; his nightmares were far more intimate affairs. Things were far from calm in the waking world he supposed, so that was likely much of it.

He was shaken from his contemplation by a voice, reaching out through the night at him; he jumped, slightly startled by the silence of the night being broken. Even if it was quietly. He looked up and over to the owner of the voice, blinking once or twice before a small embarrassed grin passed his features.
“Indeed I am, and it seems I'm not the only one,” he said kindly.
“What brings someone else out at this late hour?” Genpaku asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

"Someone was lost in thought..." Erina's smile grew a bit when she noticed she startled him. "No, but I come out late a lot more often than I probably should..." she replied with a similar kindness to his own. She closed the gap between the two to allow the conversation to continue on more naturally. In that moment, Erina tilted her head. She recognized him, at least she thought. "Well, um... I have trouble sleeping sometimes and I go for walks until I'm tired." she said and put her hands behind her back, "You probably shouldn't be so lost in thought out here, ya know? It may be the Seireitei, but that doesn't mean there aren't any threats out here." Erina was speaking more from experience than anything else. The Seireitei was pretty damn safe, but it wasn't always that way for her. "I don't often have company during my night walks, but I wouldn't mind it, if you're not out on some... 'personal-thought-walk'. Would you like to join me? Also... Do I know you? I feel like I do, but I can't remember."

Genpaku nodded along as she spoke. She looked familiar, this random stranger in the night. She wasn't from his Division though; that much he knew. Maybe he'd seen her out on a mission, or maybe she'd attended one of the Division's exercises; they did sometimes draw a crowd. She closed the gap and continued to speak, warning him of the dangers of the Seireitei. He chuckled a little at that.
“I could say the same for you, you know. Though it sounds like you do at that.”

She asked about him joining her on a walk, and he considered it for a few moments. His own heads was mostly back together, but he didn't feel quite up to going back to sleep just yet.
“I'd find that enjoyable, sure. The Seireitei is usually quite pretty, or at least peaceful, at night.” She asked him if she knew him as they began to walk, and he gave a small shrug.
“Could be we've seen one another in passing. What Division are you from? I'm from the Tenth myself.”

It may seem strange that Genpaku did not immediately identify himself, but he had a reason. To some degree Captains of the Gotei enjoyed a somewhat celebrity-type status, and it was a thing that Genpaku did not find himself enjoying often for many of his own reasons. So sometimes, it was nice to simply be another Shinigami if only for a few minutes. Maybe it helped put things in perspective, or maybe it simply made him feel like less was expected of him.
“Something bothering you that keeps you from sleeping soundly?”

Erina might have just made a new friend. What luck! This was a good week for her! The two began their walk together and Erina lowered her head. She had a habit of walking with her eyes to the ground. "I'm... from the Sixth, though I'm not exactly popular with my squad-mates, so I'm not around them often." Erina spoke sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. She looked up toward the large mountain in the middle of the Seireitei. "If you ever get a chance, sneak up to the top at night..." Erina said, pointing up to the Sokyoku, "If you're wanting to see a beautiful sight, that is where you'll get it. The torches lit throughout the entire Seireitei create a lovely pattern. The flicker of each fire make it even nicer to look at... It's also very quiet up there and is a nice place to collect your thoughts."

The coolness of the night air was comfortable for Erina. She saw no harm in being out this late, though others may disagree. She enjoyed the silence that this time allowed. The normal busyness that the Seireitei normally exuded was gone and much more peaceful. "Well..." she hesitated a bit and went back to staring at the ground as they walked, "It's too quiet, I guess. I like the quiet most of the time, but not when the air is as still as it is when I'm home. Out here the quiet is less dead. The breeze is nice and even the darkness is more alive. And I know I sound weird talking like that. Anyways... how about you? Something on your mind that a stranger may help with? And I'm Erina by the way."

Genpaku smirked when Erina pointed out Soukyoku Hill, calling it out as a peaceful spot if you were able to get up there and not get caught. While it was not strictly against any of the laws of Soul Society to enter the area, it was still frowned upon generally. Not that it stopped some. He nodded along. She was from the Sixth Division, which meant that he likely knew her from an attendance on one of his squad's training exercises. Her comment about not getting along with her Division though struck him as strange; she seemed outgoing and kind enough. Something else had to play a role in it; other Division's politics, however, were not his place to meddle for now.

She moved along to why she was out, and Genpaku held pace with her in the silence as she spoke. He nodded along once more; he could certainly relate to what she was talking about.
“Not weird at all,” he commented, before she moved on to him and made herself an introduction.
“Erina-san, hmm? A pleasure to meet you; you can call me Gen,” he said, already figuring she'd place who he was from that. So be it; he was not going to lie. “Of all things, nightmares. Just a bad dream that woke me from my sleep. No real rhyme or reason for it or too it; think its just me worrying too much about things.”

Erina smiled when he said she wasn't weird, at least someone thought so. She watched him closely as he introduced himself. She knew she recognized that name. She searched through a few memories, but only one "Gen" came up and she did not like him. The name didn't exactly bring back good memories for her, so she shook her head. "Only Gen I know is this asshole in my Division named Genji." she said out of annoyance, "So I'm not sure we've met before if he's the only one I remember. However, it is nice to meet you Gen." Then the conversation took a turn to his reasons for being out here.

"Nightmares?" Erina gave a slightly concerned look. She didn't know the guy, so this may be a regular occurrence for him. However, that theory was changed when he continued on. He was stressed. She smiled softly. "I can understand that... Stress isn't fun and more powerful than people give it credit for. You don't have to answer, but what's bothering you? Maybe talking to someone can help, though that person probably shouldn't be me." Erina rubbed the back of her head with an embarrassed smile on her face, "I don't really know you and it might be too personal, so I'm sorry if I over stepped."

Genpaku gave a small shrug to her question.
“No apology needed, and its nothing too personal. Just concerns about some of my friends, and about how things are going in general. Things are starting to look a little rocky around here anymore, and I guess I'm just getting concerned about it,” he said, underplaying the amount of information he actually had on hand. There was a quiet tension that was rising in the Gotei, though the cause of it was hard to pin down. Genpaku suspected that things were going to get noisy soon, which was a large part of why he had started up his Division's training once more.

“I suppose I'm always worrying about things like that though, so maybe I'm just running in a familiar rut. Had a strange encounter on a mission not too long ago that raised some concerns. People acting weird around here. Could be I'm just reading too much into it.”
Genpaku gave a small shrug, rolling a shoulder as he did.
“How about you? Why would you be having problems with your Division? You seem like such a nice person. Do you get shouty when you're angry?” he asked, a playful tone creeping into his voice with the last comment.

"You a bit of a worry wart?" she asked playfully with a kind smile, "Well, I hope it all clears up for you soon..." Erina put her hands behind her back again, looking up to the night sky. She thought in silence about his question, chuckling about the anger part. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then poked his cheek. "What's that tone in your voice, hm? I don't start shouting! I'm not like that..." Erina giggled a bit and shook her head, "No. There's just something about me that a lot of Shinigami don't like because it reminds them of their enemies." Erina was going to leave it there, but as she thought about it what she said sounded strange and maybe even suspicious depending on where his mind went. "Uh... My shikai is a bow." she said bluntly, her expression falling as quite a bit of shame showed in her eyes, "It reminds everyone of Quincy and they think something is wrong with me because of it."

Genpaku didn't flinch when she poked him; given who Genpaku interacted with, this was strangely normal to him by this point. Then she continued, and some of the light left her expression. She went about explaining what the hangup was, and Genpaku's expression turned first pensive then confused. It didn't seem like the Elder Saionji's way to let such a thing slide in his Division; maybe he wasn't aware of it, or simply had not figured out how to handle it yet.
“Seems rather ignorant to me. Now granted, I haven't had too many issues with the Quincy and I wasn't around for the most recent confrontation. However, seems rather closed minded. Which I guess is, unfortunately, not surprising. Many Shinigami are rather attached to their older ways. I'm sorry you got dealt a rather crap hand, as it were.”

“Though, I suppose on the other hand it is a boon is it not?” [i]he asked as they walked. “Most Shinigami have to wage any form of ranged warfare via Kidō or if they are lucky enough for their Zanpaku-tous to have ranged capabilities. You, however, have a method of attack that Hollow's would not expect from us. And it lets you deal with them at range, instead of having to get into the thick of it. You could look at it as a great advantage, as troublesome as it is.”

While the two walked and Erina listened to him, she was very surprised. She expected the more common reaction to her, not the Jehanna effect. When he went on to call it a boon, she was even more surprised. She stopped walking and stared at his back for however long he kept walking. Her thoughts rushed along strange paths for a bit and then she opened her mouth to speak. "You're the second person that's been kind to me about it. I always understood why everyone in my squad disliked me and I accepted it. It's like why most Shinigami hate Vizards, they're like hollow. We're enemies. It's just how it's been and I doubt that will ever change because of my Zanpakutō." she explained solemnly.

"I figured the reason my Lieutenant was okay with it was because he's just that type of man. You know, the laid back kind of guy that doesn't really judge? I don't know what my Captain thinks about it, but I have to ask why you're accepting of it? Quincy are our enemy, aren't they? Just because a few may be nicer than the rest doesn't mean that changes. Do you merely judge people individually?"

Genpaku continued a few strides more before he pulled to a halt, looking back over his shoulder at Erina. He listened quietly as she spoke, sticking his hands in the pockets he'd had sewn into his pants.
“Are you a Quincy?” he asked bluntly once she was done; a rhetorical question. “You are no enemy. Regardless of what you might resemble, you are a person. I try and judge people based on their actions, not on what they were born with. I don't always succeed; we are all products of our circumstances, our prejudices informed by what we've experienced. Maybe its because I have more prejudices than most where Hollows are concerned, but I don't hold any particular animosity towards my fellow people be they Shinigami or Quincy. Either one can be an enemy, either can be dangerous. Seems smarter to me to judge a person based on their actions rather than what powers they were born with, if they were born with any at all.”

He turned to look fully at her, considering her for a moment. When Genpaku focused on something, his eyes had a tendency to become intense even in this darkness.
“I think you're a kind person, so what reason do I have to hold any animosity towards you? Because you had a different Zanpakutō? I've heard of people having great big balls with spikes on them as weapons. I've heard of tri-sectioned staves and books. Why should a bow be all that rage inducing? Doesn't make any sense. People aren't always logical about these things though unfortunately. What do you think about yourself, and the power you hold?”

"Well, obviously not." Erina answered quickly. His words were true and from a man wiser than herself. Erina was used to bending to the preferences of other people just to make them happy. She fell silent to contemplate his words and was only broken from her thoughts when he spoke again. "You do?" she replied curiously about the 'nice person' compliment. She couldn't help but smile. That was good to hear. When he asked about her thoughts on her own power, she tilted her head, blinked, and then her smile returned. She put her hands behind her back and walked more cheerfully toward him.

"You're right. I don't have a problem with what my power allows... I disliked it because of how it made my own Division look at me, but I personally enjoy it." Erina planted herself in front of him and put her hand on Gen's head, playfully ruffling his silver hair, "Hm... softer than I thought it would be... Love the color of your hair. Also, I'm glad I ran into you tonight, Gen. I don't talk to people often. I feel like my luck is turning around though. First Lieutenant Jehanna and now yo-... You said you were from the Tenth, right? When is your Captain having another one of those sessions where you all gang up on him. I got to watch the last one, but I didn't join in. Lieutenant Jehanna told me to join in, but I was kind of too nervous the first time. I don't really know anyone from your squad, well, until now at least."

It was surprising to Genpaku; not that Erina walked up and ruffled his hair. Look at who some of his closest friends were; that was by all accounts normal to him, though it would be fair to say that it coming from a complete stranger did color the experience a little. No, it was that fact that Erina did not recognize him even once she did note the color of his hair. It was usually a fifty-fifty chance that someone would recognize him once they got close, but that didn't stop it from surprising him all the same. He couldn't help but smile though.

“Well, let's see. I imagine the next combat exercise will take place later in the week. Though after the last one, the next exercise may be a bit more challenging so make sure you're ready,” he cautioned.
“I think in about 4 days time if I had to guess; that'll be when the Division next gets all together for it. And I'm glad I got to meet you as well, Erina. It was nice to have some company on a walk for a change.”

Erina's smile dropped when he said the difficulty was going to increase. She whimpered and tugged at the sides of her hair, "Aww man... I don't even know if I could handle the normal exercise that you guys do. How am I supposed to handle something harder." Erina pouted a bit and crossed her arms. She started walking again, staring at the ground as she had been doing before. She shot him a friendly smile when he said it was nice to meet her, but returned her eyes to the floor a moment after. "Four days, huh? I'm surprised your Captain does sessions like so often. Is he that friendly or that strict? Captain Saionji would be that strict if he ever did practice courses with the squad. He leaves it to his subordinates..." Erina's face fell to annoyance and she waited for Gen's answer before speaking again.

"I'm jealous of you." she said quite bluntly and with a pout, "Your Captain takes time to make sure his squad is ready for battle and can handle different situations. Mine leaves it to our Lieutenant, which I don't think he realizes he has that job, so it would fall to me, and I suck!" Erina flailed her arms wildly around at her frustration and then she slumped over. "I don't like being Third Seat anymore. Hey, maybe I'll transfer to your squad? Then I can ask your Captain to give a one on one lesson, or a one on like five... I'm supposed to join in on your Division's practices for the sake of learning how to fight multiple people at once. I'm pretty sure that you know where I'd be standing if I actually got to do that with your Division. And frankly, I'm not too thrilled at standing in your Captains place. His ability is way beyond my level; I couldn't do it. Have you guys ever even hit him? I mean, besides last time."

Genpaku chuckled quietly when she complained, and fell back into step with her.  He wasn't sure how long he wanted to let her stay in the dark at this point though; on the one hand it didn't seem quite fair, but on the other hand it was rather entertaining.  Genpaku had a small mischievous side he rarely got to let out to play as it were.
“Its more a thing of preparation actually,” he commented as they walked, even if it didn't directly answer her question.  “Since the Tenth is tasked with primarily protecting the Human World, we should be prepared to deal with all manner of situations.”

Genpaku listened to Erina's complaints for a few moments.
“I think you're being too hard on yourself.  And Captain Saionji has a lot to deal with currently, what with the chaos of the Royal Families and all.  Also, with a difference of duties between the Divisions I imagine Captain Saionji has different things to focus on.  But yeah; if you were not having difficulties with your Division, I imagine you'd do just fine.”  To her other questions about the Division, Genpaku gave a small shrug.
“You'd have a tough time claiming a seat in the Tenth, if you cared about that.  Competition is pretty fierce right now.  If you're looking to find out how to fight multiple opponents, watching the exercises will give you some idea of what to do but jumping in would help out more.  Organizing an exercise with some of the lower seated members would probably be more beneficial in my opinion.”

"Huh. I see. Well being part of the Sixth means we're the face of the Gotei, which is something I still don't fully understand. We're supposed to represent what the ideal Shinigami is to be like, yet my squad is filled with judgmental jerks and boys who don't know when to keep their hands to themselves." Erina spoke in annoyance when she said this. It wasn't the normal annoyance at those who treated her bad, but something she realized. Her squad was bent out of shape and needed to be dealt with. Surprisingly to herself, she might end up having a one on one conversation with her Captain sometime soon. Either that or she'll beg her Lieutenant to come along for support.

"I don't think I'm being too hard on myself. Maybe a little bit, but not too hard. And I understand he has a lot to deal with, which is normally why I wouldn't bother him, besides the fact that he's kind of scary..." Erina puffed her cheeks up in shame when she admitted that. She didn't want to be scared of her own Captain, but it was J. Saionji. Who wasn't scared of him? "Claiming a seat is actually at the bottom of my priority list. I made a mistake showing Captain Saionji my shikai because he promoted me within the week. I didn't want that to happen." Erina sighed and shook her head, "I'll probably watch your Division's sessions again and then ask your Captain to join. If I tried that with those in my Division, I think they'd actually try and kill me. Who knows though? May make me better."

With some of this off of her mind, Erina yawned as a wave of tiredness overtook her. She covered her mouth as she yawned and then looked to Gen with a smile. "Well, it looks like it's about time for me to head back." she said and stretched a bit, "Do you think that you will be able to go sleep or will you be awake for a while? I would gladly stick around a bit longer if you'd wanted the company."

Genpaku remained quiet as Erina ranted about her Division; it seemed like it was something she needed to get out of her system.  She commented about not actually wanting to get a seated position again which he could understand to some degree, then seemed to reach the decision that she'd wait and watch the next exercise before she jumped in.  It seemed she'd worn herself out with their walk by that point, and started to make a departure before she offered to stay if he needed the company still.  He made a show of seeming to think about it for a few moments before she gave her a small smile and shook his head.
“I think I'm probably going to be headed back to bed here shortly; thanks for the offer though.  I'll keep an eye out for you on the next exercise.  Go get some sleep,” he said, giving her one more smile before they parted ways.

It was now deep hours of the night now, with only small flickering flames breaking the darkness of the night where the guards were.  Genpaku wandered for a short bit longer, his demeanor improved but still contemplative.  There were things going wrong in the Seireitei, and things were getting strange in the world of the living.  Hollows were acting different, and he wasn't the only one to notice it.  People weren't talking about it much, but it was a thing on people's minds.  He came to a stop, taking a deep breath of the night air.  He turned his sight to the high mountain at the center of the Seireitei; the Soukyoku Hill rising above the rest of the landscape.  After a moment's contemplation, he took a step and simply vanished.

He appeared a few moments later atop the hill.  This was a place with a strangely mixed reputation where Shinigami were concerned.  It was a place of execution for important criminals sure, but the Soukyoku itself had not been used in Genpaku's time as a Shinigami.  Generally, it was not used otherwise; the Senzaikyuu was rarely put to use either.  This was largely why Genpaku did not find the place disquieting; its unparalleled view of the Soul Society was something that helped put things into perspective for him, and helped calm him down.  He looked out over the landscape, a thousand guard fires twinkling in the night.  He walked along the edge of the cliff for a bit, looking out.

He came once more a stop, considering things as they stood.  Whatever was going on, it was too hard to grasp the shape of yet.  So it would not do much for him to really worry about it for the time being; he could prepare, but there wasn't much he could do by stressing himself out.  The nightmare that had woken him up was a new one, but for not it didn't seem to hold much significance.  All that said, it was probably time for him to get back to his training; he'd taken a lot of time out to hunt down the strange Hollow that had kept him out of the Soul Society, and his training had suffered for it.  He sat down, looking out.  In time, he would wander off back to bed and sleep.  For now though he simply sat and looked out over the vastness of the Soul Society, over all the souls that resided here with an understanding of just how small he truly was.