Pretty Little Fingers [Hidane]

------------------------------------------------------------------

These streets were becoming familiar once more, as they had been decades ago. Not that that was a bad thing, considering for the past two decades the only streets familiar to a certain black-haired Visored had been the streets between the warehouse and a few of his favorite bars in town. Knowing the way to a close friend’s bakery was certainly an improvement over that. In fact, in the past few weeks, even the sight of a liquor store almost made him sick. Good. It would keep him from going back to that. He did visit his favorite bar from time to time still, but only because there was someone there that he trusted and wanted to check in with from time to time. Who knows when trouble would start there, and if he could he would be there to stop it.

But today he was just taking a day for himself; he wasn’t sure how exactly he was going to put himself back out into the world now that he had successfully broken away from his drunken stupor and, at least to some extent, taken control of the new Hollow powers that Kurosenkou had developed, but that could wait now that things had calmed down and he knew he wasn’t going to randomly lose control and try to level half the damned town. He turned a corner and smiled gently as the bakery came into view. As he pushed open the door to the café part of the building, he looked to the counter to see the new assistant Caesar had hired working the counter instead of the fellow Visored himself. He’d become familiar with the new guy too though, so he raised his hand in a wave. He was wearing his usual sleeveless top, but with a long-sleeve black jacket over it, hanging open, with black jeans and sneakers.

“Ah, Hidane-san,” the man behind the counter called, “The boss just stepped out. Here on business? Should I call him back out?”

“No need, just a casual visit today.” He walked up to the counter, taking note of the others in the café; it was fairly busy, but one particular individual caught his interest. There was something… unusual… but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, and he hadn’t quite pinpointed who it was yet. “Got any croissants today?” With a nod the assistant walked off, grabbed a plate, and set a few croissants on the plate, passing it across the counter to the Visored. “Thanks.” With a nod, the assistant set back to work. Hidane stepped away and took a seat at the only open corner table, with a good view out the front window, but also a good spot to look out over the crowd in the café.

Just what was this feeling?

Mismatched crimson-and-white eyes scanned the others seated around the café as Hidane focused his Reiatsu to sense each table as his eyes passed by them, from right to left. Eventually he came to a woman sitting at a table next to a far window in the café, who happened to also be looking at him with quite the intense look. He let his gaze pass over her casually, as if he hadn’t noticed, but a moment later a smirk crossed his face. He kept his Reiatsu focused around her, but still couldn’t place what was off. She had the Reiatsu of a normal human, but it felt somehow… different. He couldn’t quite place how, but he felt as if there was something extra there, or something missing. He let his gaze pass to the window to his left and out to the street again as he tried to put together what to do.

Who was she? What was she here for? Perhaps she was sent from the Gotei, to capture him or Caesar, disguised in some new Gigai? Perhaps she was something or someone else entirely?

Seems strange, Kurosenkou’s doubled voice echoed in his head, it’s ridiculously faint, but I can feel the taint of my kind on her. It took a moment for Hidane to realize what she was talking about before he remembered that his Zanpakutou had come to fuse with his Hollow, making her a Hollow herself. Following up on his thought, she continued. I’m more of one than you’ll ever be, so you wouldn’t be able to sense it, but… it’s there, and I’m not sure why.

Well then, Hidane supposed, I guess there’s only one way to tackle this situation.

He stood up from his seat, taking off his jacket and setting it on the chair he’d been sitting at- it had been a rather odd addition to an outfit that already made him stand out well enough on its own- and grabbed one of his croissants, walking across the café while watching out the window casually until he came to the woman’s table.

“Is this seat taken?” He asked, turning his gaze back to her and resting a hand on the chair across the table from her, the grin on his face slimming to a gentle smile.

As she gestured, he took a seat at the table; not that her refusing would have stopped him, as he had a habit of tirelessly chasing anything that piqued his curiosity, but it was good that she allowed it nonetheless. She introduced herself, and it was certainly a name he hadn’t heard before, not that he had any reason to. He knew nothing of who she was, where she was from, or anything, only that she was giving off a rather suspicious lack of Reiatsu and that Kurosenkou had sensed some Hollow aura from her, but that narrowed his choices as to what he could identify her as… well, none. He knew of nothing that had anything to do with Hollows that could completely hide their Reiatsu, not without external help anyway.

“Hidane Asuka Koga,” the Visored responded, introducing himself, “a pleasure to meet you.” She didn’t seem to give off a threatening vibe, but her confidence seemed odd. He wasn’t sure what to make of it; he wasn’t sure what to make of any of this. Should he be on guard? Was she a threat? Did she think he was a threat? Suddenly just rushing headlong into the situation didn’t seem like such a bright idea, but he was here now, so all he could do was roll with it.

Now began the interesting part; trying to find out as much as he could without making it seem like an interrogation. Always concerned about how others saw his approach when he was trying to go the friendly route, he was always more prepared to cut and run than to try to dig too deep.

“This your first time here? I frequent this place and I feel like I would remember seeing you around.”

Hidane watched this woman’s reactions closely, of course without letting his face reveal such. A friendly smile and laid-back posture, he casually took a bite out of the croissant he’d brought over with him as she spoke. He could swear there was a tinge of recognition in her voice when she repeated his name, but that could be from anywhere. All-in-all, his name was rather uncommon, but he was sure there was bound to be at least a few people out there with the same name as him. That always seemed to be the case, with just about everyone. Suddenly, though, the woman seemed nervous, though she quickly recovered. Perhaps she really did think of him as more of a threat than he did her? Maybe it was an act.

“So I’ve been told,” he replied casually to the comment about his name, “at least it’s easy to call me out of a crowd.” Continuing to listen, she said she was from out of town, looking for a new setting due to a bad break-up. Not the best excuse, but plausible, he supposed. Could be true. He certainly understood the need to start anew, if nothing else. “As fine a reason to move and start over as any,” he said, leaning back. “Can’t say I didn’t do the same a while back.” Two decades was a while to him now? Just how old was he getting on to be?

She brought up Caesar, mentioning that there was something strange about him. Immediately, she became suspicious again. If she was a Gotei envoy sent disguised by some creation of the Junibantai, perhaps she knew of Caesar… and even himself, which would explain the recognition in her voice. But then why the tinge of Hollow aura that Kurosenko had sensed? Surely they would have no reason to include that in a disguise, especially in such a subtle way that he couldn’t even sense it himself.

“Caesar’s a good guy,” he replied honestly. No reason to lie; if she was sent to track or target them, she would already know enough that him talking wouldn’t change anything. If she wasn’t… well, honesty was the best policy, as he always thought. Hidane wasn’t one for talking around subjects or misleading people. “We go way back. He was probably one of the first few people I met when I moved to this town myself.” He took another bite of the croissant. “Say, if you’re new to town, how about I give you a tour? I may not be an expert, but I’ve been here long enough to know of a few good places to check out.”

If she accepted, getting out of the café could be the perfect way to figure out more about who she was or why she was here, without the listening ears of humans with nothing better to do. Of course, that all depended on if she accepted.

Honestly, he was pretty surprised she agreed to the so-called tour. In all honesty, he didn’t really know of that many places in the area, especially not between here and the Super Yuki. The offer had more been an excuse to try to get her away from the prying ears of the others in the café; it was pretty full and he didn’t need anyone overhearing the questions he had and thinking either of them were insane. He tried to avoid causing a scene whenever possible. But, this time his plan seemed to be going more smoothly than usual. He finished his croissant and glanced out the window next to them.

“Well then,” he said, “I suppose we should get going, then?” It looked like she was done with her cake, so he stood up and went back to his table. He threw his jacket over his shoulder and grabbed the tray of croissants, bringing it back up to the counter. “They’re good, they’ll go. Tell the big guy I’ll pay him back the next time I come in.” He grabbed another croissant off the tray and then headed to the door, opening it and holding it open, waiting for Nessa.

You sure about this? Kurosenkou’s voice rang in his head like a cracked bell.

Am I ever unsure about what I’m doing?

You don’t want me to answer that.

Well, I’m still alive, ain’t I? Trust me on this one.

Once Nessa had left the café, Hidane walked out as well, closing the door behind him. He was in luck; the lunch rush was over and the streets were virtually empty. He took a bite of the croissant he’d taken with him and gestured to the left, “This way.” He started walking down the street, assuming she would follow, but he wasn’t planning one wasting much time. The café was on the corner of a four-way intersection, and when they crossed the street and continued straight, he stopped about half way to the next intersection. There wasn’t anyone else within earshot, so he took a deep breath. Now was the time to see what exactly was going on.

“I’m just gonna get straight to the point, I guess. I don’t know what you are,” he started, “but you’ll have no trouble from me, unless you intend to start it. That said, I’m curious; what are you exactly? A Shinigami, sent to try to ‘deal with me’ after all this time? A Hollow in disguise? I can’t sense anything from you, but there’s definitely something off.” He turned to look at Nessa, trying to gauge her reaction. “For all I know, you’re something else entirely. Maybe you’re even just a regular human, who’s had an encounter with something you can’t quite explain, and have no idea what anything I just said means.”

He paused for a minute.

“Sorry to just come out with all of this all of a sudden, but I didn’t want to bring this up where the people I was sure are normal humans could hear.”