Returning home Sakiya quickly retrieved her gikon from her gigai before slipping into the fake body. Placing the little green pill into an hidden pocket inside her button down shirt she turned the door knob and opened her bedroom. She was met face to face with Iwabee as she left her room, he had a deep scowl on his face as she emerged from her room. She recognized that look too well and knew he was about to rant at her.
"I looked up those registration numbers—or rather Denki looked them up," he began. She knew the very storm she was about to receive and if she was being honest, a part of her- a large part, felt she deserved it.
"Those ninja weren't really ninja, one of them in particular—the description bears a strong resemblance to you, just younger," Iwabee continued.
She remained quiet, but made eye contact with him. The way she held her eyes was something he'd now grown accustomed to as he concluded, "it was you."
"No. It was my gigai, but not me," Sakiya corrected. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and began filled it with water and brought the glass to her lips. He observed her quietly while she drank down the water before he sought clarity from her, "your gigai? What is a gigai?"
Sakiya seemed to point to herself and answered, "a gigai is a fake body that's used to house a shinigami that's been injured so they can retain their form, it's also a useful tool to use when existing around humans. Otherwise most people wouldn't be able to see us and anyone who can see spirits would appear to be talking to themselves when in reality they're talking to us."
She then wordlessly placed the glass on the counter and looked to Iwabee, "that person's name was Nozomi Takahashi. She's a combination of my gigai and the gikon that I use to inhabit my gigai when I'm hunting hollows."
Iwabee blinked a bit at a new word he hadn't known before. He watched as she reached into her shirt, and pulled out a green ball that looked like a candy. She looked to him and said, "it's called a soul candy."
"And she's the one that uses that embarrassing jutsu," Iwabee concluded.
Sakiya raised a brow at his remark before answering, "what do you have against it?"
"It's embarrassing," Iwabee insisted, causing the young woman to roll her eyes back into her skull. He observed her and joked, "see your brain back there?"
"Haha," came the dry response. Her grey eyes now fully on him as she confessed, "Nozomi isn't the only one capable of that jutsu. I can use it as well, although I never attended the academy. I just read her books."
Iwabee chuckled a bit as he regarded her then asked, "Why do you keep insisting that it isn't an embarrassing jutsu?"
She looked directly at him and replied, "When you've managed to render a field's worth of opponents incapable of combat without harming them, then you can talk to me about what's embarrassing versus powerful."
"Never said something couldn't be powerful and embarrassing," Iwabee pointed out.
She gave a small giggle before inquiring, "Did I ever tell you about the samurai?"
At this he looked to her with a quirked brow and asked, "what are Samurai? Are they like ninja?"
"Kind of, in the sense that they serve to protect their country but they don't use ninjutsu. If I were to apply any of shinobi skills to a samurai they'd be masters of taijutsu and more so bukijutsu. However the samurai are also associated with two different types of flowers. The camellia, and cherry blossom," Sakiya explained.
She looked to Iwabee as she continued, "the cherry blossom symbolizes that the best times are short, and we should enjoy them while they last. This is because like the Samurai the life of a cherry blossom is short. The cherry blossom also in later years became a symbol of peace to other countries. The Camellias bloom in winter, and so the Samurai saw them as a symbol of bravery and strength. These men were defenders of their country and yet they didn't see flowers as embarrassing, but recognized that they could liken some flowers to themselves and those flowers became symbolic of the samurai life."
The boy blinked repeatedly before he whispered something so vaguely that Sakiya wasn't sure she heard him correctly. It almost sounded like something to do with birds. She craned her neck so her ear was closer to him.
He repeated himself a little louder, "birds of paradise."
She smiled as she recounted, "the birds of paradise, representative of joyfulness, freedom, anticipation, excitement, it can also be linked to faithfulness, love, and thoughtfulness. It's also considered to be the official flower of the ninth wedding anniversary in western parts of some living worlds."
He gave a small smile as she concluded her information of his favourite flower. Sakiya looked up to the ceiling as she asked, "have I ever caused you to feel like being in touch with your emotions isn't masculine or somehow makes you soft?"
"Not that I recall," he replied. She eyed him as she inquired, "then why was it so difficult to admit to me that you have a favourite flower?"
A small dusting of pink could be seen on his cheeks if one looked close enough. He then revealed, "it's just I consider some things to be intimate in nature."
She blinked wordlessly at him. He again blushed and laughed from embarrassment as he erupted, "oh come on! It was a weird thing and I thought I had an infection!"
She laughed openly and nodded as she admitted, "Yeah—the first major sign that stuff was starting with me was.. well.. messy—and I didn't think I had an infection. I thought I was dying. Like my kidneys were shutting down or something. Until my mom explained things."
"I guess that would be pretty scary," he lamented.
"Changes can be terrifying," she agreed. She looked to him as she added, "but they're a little easier to face when you have someone you can trust at your side."
"Our relationship's changed a bit," he remarked. This again caused her to giggle as she explained she had to now trust he'd learned enough to be smart about his choices. He wasn't a child now, but a young man transitioning into adulthood in just a few short years. She would still be there for him when he had need of guidance but she was loosening her hold on him a little and letting him stumble, even fall a few times.
She'd be there to pick him up and dust him off as much as her other obligations would allow these days, but ultimately he'd soon have to learn how to be on his own. Both of them were surprised by a knock at the door.
Both looked over from their spot at the table as she stood up and made her way to the door opening it but gasped and stumbled backwards away from the door, a hand clasped over her mouth. At this Iwabee immediately stood up and ran over to her to find a short white haired male at the door. He was approximately 4'4" tall with a lean build, and had large turquoise eyes. He had fair skin, his attire consisted of grey pants and a black shirt, on his feet were the standard shinobi sandals. He glanced at Iwabee then back to Sakiya and remarked, "the second squad Lieutenant was correct in his briefing. You do strongly resemble your father."
Iwabee looked between the boy and Sakiya before realizing that this kid was a Shinigami like Sakiya. He then wondered why she looked ready to pass out. He was standing and visibly watching her face lose colour.
It would seem the guest was noticing this as well as he inquired, "are you alright?"
Sakiya didn't answer but her knees buckled under her and Iwabee was quick to catch her under her arms. The boy entered the apartment, closing the door behind himself. He took her from Iwabee and laid her down on the floor while telling Iwabee, "get a cold compress."
When the human was out of range from her, he grasped her wrist, placing two fingers against a vein on the underside of her wrist to check her pulse. Rapid, but it was regulating, she was breathing easier now her chest rising and falling with each respiration. It would seem she had passed out from a panic attack or some kind of shock. All he had done was show up as they'd agreed, although why Kuchiki was asking him to keep an eye on his daughter he couldn't imagine.
Iwabee returned with a cold damp cloth which he placed on Sakiya's forehead.
"You must be the human she raised, Iwabee Yuino," He probed.
At this Iwabee nodded his head in agreement and inquired, "You're a shinigami?"
"Tenth Squad Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya," the white haired boy answered.