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[hatician]

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@ghaist,

[hatician]

[The shop was closed. The kids had their dinner and everything had been locked up. Presented with an empty closet, save for a shrink-wrapped suit, Kisuke looked dejected as he showered up, got dressed and stepped out of the side door in an outfit he did not want to wear. Still, Gin had come to him in total honesty and asked him to go to a party and waited for him to cave to pressure to say 'yes' before mentioning it was formal. He might have said 'no' if not for a little weakness he had for her brand approach to being upfront and direct.

She could be cute when she twisted his arm and he worried she realized that.

He knocked on her door, shoulders hunched, hair tied in a pony-tail that barely held scrutiny even when he was in his basement doing lab work. Somehow, he figured it would look better in a suit than not.]

I've arriiiived.

just kill her why don't u urahara

[cloths]

[ he looks good. objectively knowing urahara is handsome probably dulled the surprise of seeing him in formal clothing and, at least, gin can admit to being pleased with the outfit of choice. she looks up and down double-checking the fit, stepping close enough to tug at the edge of a sleeve to straighten it.

gin smiles. ] You sound so very excited. [ for her part, she's also in a suit, her hair pinned up in the usual spikey style she uses for work, the mask she will don in a moment or two tucked in her pocket. ]

Thank you for coming with me tonight. I know it's a work thing but-[ gin waves a hand. ] I prefer not going alone if I don't have to.

he isn't even trying that hard yet, just wait

[hatician]

Well, aren't you the doting type?

[To no surprise at all. Any time she saw him, she was trying to get him to take a nap or eat something more than a rice ball, so when Gin began coaxing his sleeve back into place, Kisuke shut one eye and leveled a peaceful smile her way. He wasn't in the best of moods after putting on something so restrictive but there was a little sense of satisfaction in seeing her so happy with herself for convincing him to put it on.

Reaching out just above her ear, Kisuke nudged a stray hair back from out of place after teasing out a little bit of a deeper smile.]

So, what role am I playing? I carry fake wedding bands around just for situations like these~.

sir SIR this is a wendy's pls

[cloths]

I like it. [ looking after someone, doting on them—gin feels it is rewarding but before she can add to those thoughts she feels the touch and freezes. sometimes, she finds urahara touches so casually and with enviable confidence; gin prefers not to dwell on it.

this is like being confronted with dazai in her early teen years and having no idea what to do besides turn red a lot. that had, thankfully passed and so she's fairly confident this will too.

until he has to tease with—

gin's expression is flustered, openly now rather than the earlier pretence of not. ]

No, that's not- necessary. It's not- [ wait. ] How many situations like this do you even encounter?

ok i would like a medium frosty...

[hatician]

[Armed over a century's worth of training to rip apart his innocence and replace it with something more practical, Kisuke saw no qualms with casually weaponizing a crush. At the very least, he wasn't trying to hurt her feelings or lead her on rather than just trying to keep himself from making everything in the world out to be an exercise as a Soul Reaper. He wasn't invulnerable. He could flirt a little.

Though, there was certainly a part of him that enjoyed any and every time he caught her so perfectly off guard. No, that was just a smidge of sadism.

He opened his hand with a little sleight of hand from his wrist, conveniently made a little easier when she adjusted his sleeve, producing a case with two rings and opening it just before she answered. Two wedding bands, as promised.]

Oh? [At her answer, he promptly shut the case and began tucking it back into his sleeve. He already got what he wanted, seeing Gin fall apart for a moment, so he didn't see the need to push further when he could look for ammunition during the party.

In a way, it was also an intelligence collecting session for ways to tease her later.]

You'd be surprised how often it works. Married couples always whisper to one another so it wouldn't look out of place if I leaned in to whisper in your ear at all during the evening, would it?

[That was a bad smile he was putting on.]

no medium frosty for you, sir!!

[cloths]

[ funny. gin knows that she is not his type and therefore knows this is just plain teasing but she doesn't hate it; probably because she accepts this as part of their friendship. though assigning the label of friendship makes her cause, not because of a silly crush, but because in the port mafia your friends were usually other members. they became your friends and family and by extension, it became impossible to leave.

gin looks up at that smile and she wants to shove her hand in his face and shove him. the man is a menace and he's going to most likely be a menace the entire evening. payback, perhaps, for making him wear a suit? gin shakes her head.

she adjusts the mask over her face, hiding her features in the way she's most comfortable with during jobs. ]

There are people who might know of me in attendance. They'd figure out the lie and then it'd get dangerous for you.

[ she does give in and stands a little taller, pats his clean-shaven cheek. ] Ready?

y'know what fine /cries

[hatician]

[Mask or not, Kisuke had a good impression of just how Gin looked just by catching her eyes and the wild way they danced when he had her off guard.

Smirking with confidence he usually shunted aside with ease, Kisuke offered her a shrug.]

I'm very good at adapting on the fly. You'd be surprised how many ways we could make that work to our favor but... I suppose it couldn't hurt to spare you a little.

[Just as she patted his cheek, he left himself up for even more punishment. He watched as a car came down the street for them, leaving him a few precious moments to catch her off guard before he had to actually play to his role properly.]

I guess I can settle for an overprotective and aggressive boyfriend angle. It's been a while.

[cloths]

Oh you can't be—[ serious; gin doesn't even get a chance to reply to that final statement, not wanting to give away anything to their driver. that could be dangerous.

and there is was, even though gin turned away quickly, the tell-tale sign of embarrassment visible in the way the tip of her ears reddened before she climbed onto the back of the car.

the driver had been contracted and paid for by her boss. though now that they're on the way she wonders if this is such a good idea. she casts a look at urahara, searching for any hesitation on his part.

but it's too late now, technically, the drive isn't even long and the venue-some casino with patrons richer than god-is the scene of tonight's job. normally, she'd have hirotsu or tachihara at her side but they were back in yokohama. this was a gamble, but gin felt quite certain that in a pinch, urahara would be perfectly suitable a replacement for her usual work partners. ]

You should take advantage of the drinks. [ gin offers, a neutral enough statement. ]

[hatician]

[He left Gin with one little smile before the car pulled up and he put on a face that was considerably more appropriate. Given the respect she showed him and the crush she never could conceal, he went with something that fit him a few hundred years ago. Seamlessly, he took in a breath and sighed, the lively and friendly look in his eyes disappearing completely. He slouched once more and looked away from her, expression drifting into something distant and hollow.

With her profession in mind, maybe an older and meaner contractor hired on the side would be more appropriate. It would fit any explanation as to why he was likely unheard of and not surprise anyone who might have seen him in passing.]

Mm. [He waited for the driver to open the door for him, lowering his voice to a point.]

The sooner this is over, the better. You owe me, Akutagawa.

[cloths]

[ at least... crushes are simple. they don't get in the way of work as far as gin is concerned, and -she thinks that- as long as she's aware of it, in control then this is fine. everything is just fine, even if her eyes do linger on him now and again. though, quite frankly, gin isn't sure if she's staring now because of a childish crush or because he had-


-changed. seamless transition from who gin had become familiar with to this. beneath her mask, the way her mouth parts in surprise is concealed. trust is such a difficult thing and still, when push has come to shove she has been able to trust urahara. (in her humble opinion though, he is still trouble.)

gin follows, dipping her head in acknowledgement of those words. if this is the mask he's picking for tonight, gin will follow the act. ] Just add it to my tab.[ her voice is still sweet but lacks the warmth and softness of before.

inside the lavishly decorated hall are distinct representatives from several of the yakuza families, not only from this area but further up north. this hadn't been in the dossier she'd been given—is this a test from mori?

ah... let's just hope she does not have to kill anyone tonight. that would not be ideal because of her current companion (little does she know...)

instead, she plucks two champagne flutes from a tray when a waiter stops by and she offers one to urahara. ]

[hatician]

[The drive had been quiet. In his youth, he had always been precisely that. Schemers enjoyed silence to let their thoughts process. To run through scenarios. To be ready for anything. In his case, he enjoyed it so that it would help him still his body. He could calm his racing heart with silence. Lately? Silence had been a nightmare for him. Uncertainty filled the gaps.

He had his moments to consider what Gin would think of such a mask. She wouldn't be pleased to see a face she was likely used to seeing regularly on others--save for him. Either way, he had planned on doing her a favor. Following through would be his way of being appreciative but he'd still feel guilty over treating her the way he did--even if it were the result they were looking for.

Following her like a bored hound, Kisuke said nothing and exchanged dry looks with other guests. Colleagues who would undoubtedly share none of her charm or kindness. Maybe a fraction of her wit. What they would share with her would be a professional air and that subtle presence of seriousness that came out when she was ready to work. He had only seen a little of it but it did the trick. He understood what she could endeavor to do.]

Hm? [He pretended to not notice the waiter at first, glancing around at faces as if paranoid. It certainly helped that he always was. When he took his drink from the waiter and uttered no thanks at all, he took a moment to sniff it at the rim and downed it with practiced efficiency. The same man who would blow incessantly on his tea while they chatted had no problems at all playing the part of a ruffian. In that span of time, he caught Gin's expression. Something was off and she probably needed his eyes to be better trained.]

Akutagawa. Who's staring at me right now? Don't recognize them.

[Making an offer. Pretend you're holding my leash.]

[cloths]

[ the problem in this entire scenario is rather simple: gin has absolutely no idea why that man (and her brain is cataloguing through the dossiers she had read before coming here) is looking at urahara in such an intense manner. it's unsettling, and she has no idea why this could be.

as far as she knows of urahara kisuke- shop owner, shinigami, a little weird, and full of secrets but not actually involved in gin's world. the yakuza, the port mafia, all the underworld feuding that really didn't intersect most of the time with the shinigami things. or so, that is gin's understanding of things (which may be, unfortunately, lacking).

she lowers her voice, ] That is the right-hand man of Fukuchi. He used to be military.

[ what she's not asking with words is why- why is he staring at you like that? ]

[hatician]

So, a crew-cut.

[The sentiment might have been shared but it could have been a number of things. Gin's world had been one he rarely dipped his toes in--at least amongst people in the physical world. In the spiritual world, Fukuchi's hand was a familiar sight. Even so, the bleak-looking man with a faded crew-cut staring at him from a number of tables over wore an old scar by his temple that looked as if it had healed quite incorrectly. Puffing at a cigar, he'd occasionally mutter something to a young woman at his side. She would listen, nod, and tap away at her phone.

It could have meant a great number of things. Kisuke decided not to test it and simply huddled a little closer to Gin, shoulders hunched. A little hushed--]

You think he's envious that I came here with you?

[cloths]

If you want to be simplistic about it. [ gin knows fukuchi to be highly dangerous, despite having a small operation. he has contacts in the government and abroad, and after retiring from the military had remained highly respected and sought-out. not to mention the sword he had been gifted, a sword that was said to be able to pierce into the future.

whether it can or cannot is not on gin's notes but she does have a list of many dead people who had pissed fukuchi or one of his men off. she doesn't exactly want that to be her fate (urahara will be fine, she's pretty sure nothing remotely human could even scratch him). ]

In any case let's try to be out of his line of sight.

[ that suggestion is laughable, and instead, gin in a moment of utterly forgetting that she has a crush on this man and he has seen her bleed, puke, have her soul leave her body literally and replies, drily: ] And... I think you're more his type.

@GHAIST - Sad AU pt 2 w/ Sato Naoyuki...

[hatician]

[At the time, he was falling apart. Surviving just long enough to see her. The last person he'd ever see and she was quite the looker.

'Don't look so glum. There's nothing more satisfying than protecting someone you love.'

When he faded and everything passed, he knew he would never see her again. Not unless he made a wish. Lucky for him, he already had a wishing star in his hand.

-

Naoyuki woke up to that dream at least once a week though it was always somewhat nebulous. Tough to grasp. The only clear thing had been that woman's face. Even so, he understood it wasn't just his brain making up stories out of parts he didn't have. Dreams collected things that were left behind that needed to be processed. Before he grew out of that dream? He wanted to find out where it came from. The rabbit hole he fell into came with a world of danger. A wealth of information to process.

He didn't expect to get as far as he did. Running along on theory alone? His 'sliding door gate' worked much more effectively than it should have on paper... or, well, in his virtual notes.

Alarms were firing off in the Twelve Division. Surveillance couldn't piece together where their new intruder came from. Only that he was in the Seventh Division barracks. Standing in front of a crowd of surly-looking men in old-fashioned shihakusho and swords, Naoyuki waved and tried to make his way over to the door... only to be stopped by an utterly enormous man.]

Oh, I thought I'd just... politely step out?

Interesting strategy, invader.

[He didn't actually want to put the man's face through the door but a few swings of his sword told him their weapons were the real deal. Scrambling along a number of walls, he hopped from point to point and came to a dead stop at the peak of a gate. Naoyuki pulled his hood loose and shook out his shaggy hair, looking over the massive expanse of walls leading into green and brown mountains in all directions. The land of spirits.]

Well, how about that? Knew it was real.

sad au p2 electric reincarnation boogaloo

[cloths]

[ it was an open secret among the captains and vice-captains, as well as some members of the 7th division that akutagawa gin had been in love with urahara kisuke, and that his death had left a mark. but gin is resilient and much like the first departure had elected to continue. she had responsibilities and she had, for better or worse, the legacy of what kisuke created and what he wanted to protect to look after. even if mayuri and her had radically distinct ideas on how to go about that.

to shinigami months are nothing, years and decades are easily passed too. it is only once a couple of decades sink in that gin feels the ache in her heart lessens one morning for some inexplicable reason. she feels as if the memory of urahara is no longer painful enough to just pull away from. she looks at the sky, drinking her tea contently.

and so the decades keep going. the world changes, and the shinigami do not. she smiles more often, leaves behind her mask and need to pin her hair up. captain hirako says she looks happy before they enter a meeting together and gin-for the first time in a long time-agrees.

she doesn't forget, though. that's not possible.

when the newest third seat of the 7th confesses that he's fallen in love with her, gin rejects him but decides against sending him elsewhere. he does good work and, it's brave of him to confess so respectfully to his boss. gin doesn't mind, she just simply doesn't have the heart for it.

and so it goes. it became an open secret that captain akutagawa is beautiful and impossible to attain, like reaching for a star crossing the nightsky too fast to even wish upon. gin smiles more often, she follows order, she has a sense of belonging.

things are going well.

...and then of course the alarms go off. an intruder in her squad's barracks? that's unforgivable. gin is happy to let iba handle it until apparently, she is not because the intruder kicked him in the face and escaped.

she takes a deep breath and goes hunting. she doesn't even need to look far, is this intruder an idiot to just hang on the wall looking over like that? well, it doesn't matter, she's capturing him unless he is a threat that must be eliminated. from this position she can only see the hood he's wearing, not his face and that is perfect. her footsteps make no sound, closer, closer, closer—

and that is how akutagawa gin's beloved knife ends pressed against sato naoyuki's throat. ]

You should have run further.

[hatician]

[He might have let his guard down a little too easily. More preparation went into that trip than anything he tried to pull in the past and yet, there were plenty of things he couldn't account for. Among many things, he hadn't realized just how quietly those soul sealers could be. The very first 'fight' he got into had been someone loud and boisterous and the second was something of a monster. He felt her presence so dimly, he could have sworn she was a mile away but with precision, he couldn't understand until confronted with it, Kisuke felt the gentle, controlled press of steel to his throat.

His smile wavered. Not because of the threat she posed but because of her voice. Soft and almost kind despite the danger of it being so close to his ear. Of course, if her goal was to capture him he might not have stood a chance but he could feel a need to spill blood in her aura. Her voice. There was some grand insult to her integrity present and it had a dirty mop for hair. He could redirect something fatal.

He pursed his lips and exhaled.]

Pop.

[Naoyuki exploded. Ribbons of black rubber fell from the air as he triggered a decoy of himself from the confines of his hoodie, barely managing to flash from Gin's grasp with a thin line of blood running down his neck. Smoke poured from where his decoy had replaced him and Naoyuki watched carefully from the next pillar he landed on, sword drawn from the backpack he'd been wearing. Tension-inducing as it was to face someone with her spiritual density, he felt a warmth roll over his cheeks never before felt in his life before coming face to face with her.

How fortunate it was that she had left her mask behind that day.]

Woah! Would you look at that? The girl of my dreams!

[cloths]

[ gin thought she'd had him; the knife had been firmly pressed and while she had no intention of actually going further the surprise from that 'pop' made it slip--not deep but enough to draw a thin line. she's utterly baffled by what follows, showered in black ribbons and--

she might have to draw her blade to deal with this intruder, not the knives she tended to favour for close combat. fingers set on the hilt of her zanpakuto. she doesn't want to draw it unless she must and is currently having that internal debate when the intruder speaks again.

did he seriously

did he just

gin looks distinctly unimpressed from where she stands. had he really just tried that? in the middle of invading soul society? this man was either a genius or an utter idiot with luck who had found his way here. (though the fact he's wearing a reiatsu concealing cape suggests he's smart but gin's seen her fair share of idiot-geniuses and idiots who pretend.)

muttered mostly to herself with undisguised irritation: ] Are you serious right now? [ then, louder ] The longer you draw this out the more it'll hurt.

[hatician]

[In the scope of his scanning and probing over the past few months, Gin registered as one of a hundred similar presences. Hers was one of the sharper ones--easier to pick up if only because of her spiritual density. Her signal was also closest to the one he remembered. A lone, red ribbon marked her signal in a sea of various shades of red. As the smoke cleared from his decoy and Gin straightened herself, Naoyuki drew back his hood fully and ran his thumb over his throat, sealing the cut on his neck with kido, a thin green line of light left behind.

He hadn't let his eyes off of Gin, watching as a number of other soul reapers were scrambling to run to the same levels Kisuke and Gin had settled on. It would take a little time for them to catch up to the two. So, he didn't have long at all to verify who she was. Even if he had to run, he needed to hear her name. From her mouth.]

Deathly serious! Well, to an extent. I'll admit, my motivations for coming here are a little sketchy. They're not even remotely heroic, either!

[Laughing, he tapped his sword against his shoulder. In its unreleased state, it looked as simple and straightforward as any other asauchi.]

Now, just because I have my sword out doesn't mean I want to fight. Weird as it sounds, I still don't know if you want to kill me or kiss me, so it's there just in case I made a mistake and went for a different beautiful woman.

[cloths]

[ the moment he draws his hood back his face is incredibly familiar. cruelly so. those are features she has not seen in well over a decade and the surprise, while not evident to most, would be easy to pick up on for someone of kisuke's intelligence. then, it's shuttered away, back beneath the pale, indifferent expression gin favours when not wearing her mask.

well, fuck. this man is a lunatic who looks just like--gin can't even think of his name right now. her voice is soft, a little conflicted: ] You really shouldn't be here and now... [ she has to catch him. and take him to the other captains and see if she's imagining things and finally going insane or this is something else entirely.

unfortunately, gin's first reaction when confronted with emotional vulnerability is anger. ] Neither of those options but seeing as you are an intruder resisting capture, I might have to go with kill.

Flattery doesn't work on me.

[ not on this gin anyway. but she hasn't tried to stab him again and she's hearing him out, waiting for the rest to arrive and try to corral him. ]

[hatician]

Hmmm.

[When confronted with anger, Naoyuki somehow felt utterly at peace. It was probably a dangerous quality to have but there was something relaxing about knowing when something dangerous was being pointed at his throat. It helped him figure out in critically short amounts of time whether someone was speaking honestly. She hadn't drawn her soul cutter at all. Either she was confident she could catch him or the sight of him had the right effect. At the very least, it was a little confirmation. His voice and face were the same as the guy from the past, right? He could work with that data.

Even so, he was quickly running out of time and he was trying to shake just how distracting that moment's hesitation looked on her face. There was plenty more conflict to witness but he felt his heart swell over that one little moment where it broke apart.]

Cute... Y'know, you were more honest at first but... I don't mind a few lies. Gin, right?

[There was a little beep from his hoodie, a little red light flashing around his hip in his pocket. A little panic crossed Naoyuki's face and he looked around, past Gin and to the soul reapers trying to reach the two of them. Up front, a red-faced man with his sword already drawn. The weird yakuza guy with the shades. Well. Maybe it was good timing.]

Oh! That's time! Gramps found me out.

[A Senkaimon gate burst out of thin air right behind him. From within, a big meaty fist grabbed Naoyuki by the back of his hoodie and yanked him within the depths before it swung shut and vanished into dust.]

[cloths]

[ what can gin possibly say to any of this? she's even quieter than usual under the watchful gaze of iba. who had spent a good ten minutes swearing and promising retribution on the intruder until gin has silenced him with a soft 'iba-kun, please'. and inevitably, as it often happens when kurosaki ichigo's energy is felt, the captains had a discussion.

gin, for the most part tries to stay out of it because that man— he'd looked and acted just like— but in truth, gin has never had very good sense because why is she even here?

in the human world after years and not just that but outside an abandoned warehouse that has seen better days. she could sneak in, sure but she hasn't, lingering outside while she has a whole internal debate about what she's doing.

if this is-- if this is him, gin has questions but also if he isn't entirely him then shouldn't she leave things alone? they've both suffered enough to continue drawing this out.

still, she lingers and waits and, because she wasn't raised in a barn, does knock on the metal door. ]

Why doesn't he have a doorbell...? [ or an apartment while they're at it. ]

[hatician]

[Ichigo had never yelled at him quite so much before that morning. He didn't just earn one or two lumps. He got put in the dirt every time he refused to apologize. Obstinate, stubborn, reckless, foolish--he got every card thrown at him until the old man just gave up and set up a cot in the warehouse so he could keep an eye on him. Granny would come by with food to keep them occupied as Ichigo angrily watched TV on the old-fashioned 4k setup, refusing to try out the projector cubes Naoyuki had gotten them.

His little warehouse was downright impossible to navigate without the right sort of spiritual awareness--an interesting little security trick he set up. Though, someone who knew an occupant wouldn't have any trouble actually getting through. It would look like an ordinary dirt path in the road leading to the front door if they were familiar. Regardless, his cameras picked up something. Someone. He scrambled from his workbench, prompting a sleepy grunt from Ichigo, laid out on his cot. Coming to a slide at the door, he cleared his throat, touched up his hair a little and completely forgot he was still quite covered in metal shavings and oil.

Naoyuki swung open the door, smiling at Gin and leaning against the frame, trying his best to put on just the right kind of lazy grin that he thought made him look devilishly handsome.]

Hello, there.

[cloths]

[ while gin is busy with her own personal existential crisis and memories, the door opens and--yup. there is no mistaking that messy hair but the pose is all off. and what is he trying to even do?

well, whatever, gin doesn't have time for those details. she's here because she has questions and there are things only this person who looks like him could answer. if not, gin is going to find kurosaki-san and see what he knows. ]

Exactly who are you? And how did you know my name?

[hatician]

[There was absolutely a ticket list somewhere of people who wanted a piece of him in one way or another. He could play modest with his looks or intellect but after Aizen's capture? His name might have risen up in a few Womens' association polls. While he still thought it was a trick played on him by the new head...

Well, one more admirer/nemesis wouldn't change much.]

Nothing's more suspicious than hiding. Just pretend to be upset with me.

[Almost without a care in the world, he demonstrated by reaching up to adjust Gin's clothes. Publically.]

You don't do things like this very often, do you?