Subtle as always (Raikou)

Kaiyo sat silently in the sand; tracing her hands through the golden speckles as she waited. Through her own genius, the girl had agreed to meet her hollow friend in Hueco Mundo. Las Noches to be more precise. Her reiatsu was capped to barely a murmur of energy, and of course, she was in costume. A squishy hollow costume that looked oddly similar to that of a teddy bear, still, it had let Kaiyo move quickly along as nothing more than a blur of a weak hollow, too fast to be prey for other monsters.

Granted, the meeting place had been less than ideal, but Kaiyo had spent a whole week designing her hollow outfit, so she saw no way of backing out. The girl hadn't seen Raikou in quite a while, an had in all honesty missed his company. It seemed odd, and very wrong she could miss an impure soul of a monster, but Kaiyo had never been one to argue with her own feelings. Leaning against the side of Las Noches, nice and casual. Kaiyo tilted her head up towards the deep blue sky. 'Rawwwwwwr' she whispered slightly, practicing her scary hollow voice. It wasn't so scary as of yet.

Kaiyo lowered her head so she could see through the eye holes in her costume. Her face lightning up as she leapt from the floor, her fake hollow tail swishing along the sand as she threw her arms around the neck of the wolf. Kaiyo would recognise his energy anywhere. Though he was very different by now, that much was clear. Stronger, definately stronger, she could tell that just by hugging the monster. Kaiyo (in teddy bear hollow costume) swung around Raikou's neck and onto his back. 'You got a green go faster stripe!' she cheered with excitement. Her only real response to his physical change in appearance.

Kaiyo clung tightly to the hollows skin. Tipping her head to the left, her costume following just moments afterwards as she spoke. 'Heh, they were fooled by my celeve disguise' she smirked slightly. Almost waiting for the espada to jump out and prove her wrong. Kaiyo leant forwards and hugged the hollow some more, 'Seee now i match as well!' she chimmed, refferring of course to the outfit he had so flippantly called foolish.

Kaiyo sat back up a bit, her eyes squinting in thought as she leant forwards to speak into Rai's ear. 'You got colder' she stated bluntly. Not so oblivous to changes in spiritual energy and such like. The captains on golden reiatsu held a polar effect, often sparking an excited warmth around the girl. Kaiyo shuffled her shoulders defensively as Raikou began to move, 'But i like wearing it...it's warm and it keeps the sand out my hair' she mumbled, hurt by the suggestion that she could throw away such a masterpiece.

Kaiyo chewed her bottom lip gently as Raikou spoke, the wolf did in all honesty seem different. Of course he had advanced through levels of hollows, something which was very odd for Kaiyo to witness so closely. The 11th squad captain had, naturally, fought hollows of pretty much every level. Though meeting one and seeing it change through those levels was something very different. The question of how a hollow advanced seemed like a question she shouldn't ask; eating souls wasn't something she wanted to hear about so much in this friendship. Kaiyo blinked hard to block out the thought, she didn't need her mind wandering onto that subject right now.

'Where are you going?' she puzzled. Her mind trickling back to the stream of thought that wondered how you got rid of the smell of Hueco Mundo. Perfume? That would work right?

Kaiyo's nose wrinkled ever so slightly as she scrunched up her face in a mildly confused expression; uncertain what lead Raikou to calling her a fool. Still, the Captain listened as any good friend should. 'Vasto Lorde huh...' she repeated, without even realising she'd spoken. Things were once again being thrown through a perspective she didn't like. A Captain of the Gotei 13, friends with a Vasto Lorde. Natural born enemies and yet someone who knew her so well...It was arguably wrong, and definitely right.

Kaiyo leant forwards on the wolf's back, turning her head to one side as she shut her eyes. Holding on tightly to her friend. Banishing bad thoughts of the future. Though she was quite uncertain as to how she should take the surprise. The girl's mind wasn't very good at grasping the fullest detail of what it meant. Though her guess would be Raikou being an espada...Hopefully one that didn't plan the downfall of Soul Society. Kaiyo flicked her head back, her hollow head falling over her eyes too much so she couldn't see. The girl pouted in annoyance, 'I don't like surprises, and i don't get what being a Vasto Lorde changes...' Of course it changed a lot of things, least of all making her job and life more at risk by being friends, but all those things were too hard to admit.

Why did it sometimes seem like his words fell upon deaf ears with that blonde haired, naïve female? The beast left a large range of frozen imprints within the sand from his previous Reiryoku explosion. They happened rarely and when they did occur, after effects took place. “No worries. “ Were the only words the male had to say on the topic at hand. There wasn’t anything –besides getting caught and executed. That she needed to worry about. A drawn-out sigh trailed from the muzzle of the hollow as they continued their long trek through Hueco Mundo.

Now her other question hit him; besides power, what did being a Vasto Lorde get him? It gave him the ability to look generally normal. He’d also be able to communicate better, eat actual food, among other things. But, he had to do this from Kaiyo’s perspective. “Well, I could actually return your hugs. Wouldn’t you want that?” He looked over his shoulder to only see her in deep thought.

Deep within the recesses of the developing inner realm, Shibura was watching what was happening through Raikou’s eyes. She could tell the worry that he felt for her. “Don’t worry Rai, you’ll be able to protect her…” The girl’s hair changed from an icy white to an azure tipped silver hair colour. She was right, if Raikou had gotten the power that he so desired, then he’d be able to protect Kaiyo with his life, instead of wasting his life on Kaiyo. There wouldn’t be a point in saving her if all of his sacrifices were in vain. The beast’s tail reached upwards over his back and the tip lightly pulled her hood from in front of her eyes.

After most of her face was freed, Raikou dropped his tail towards the ground and wafted it across the sand, wagging it in widely. The sands up lighted and his dark green stripes began burning brightly against the sun. “Now, where do you wish to go. We can go to the human world if you’d like and no, I will not eat anyone.” The beast huffed and stopped himself mid stride.

Kaiyo's eyes lit up at the words, hugging the hollow tighter as she grinned, 'You could hug back?!' the repetition a clear indicator to her excitement at such a prospect. Thought surely part of the hollow's charm was his wolf like appearance. Kaiyo slowly sat back up straight, her posture only slightly affected by her costume. Wonder sparked in her eyes for a moment, that glistening moment of silence.

Kaiyo wasn't what many might call 'smart' but her people skills and intuitive ability often made up for all the knowledge she figured she might need. A beats more contemplation lead to her next question. Opening her mouth to speak, the hollows tail gently knocked back her hood. Her blonde hair almost instantly flicking out in the breeze. Kaiyo smiled, amused by the action itself as her eyes drifted to the side.

'The real world!' she answered, speaking loud enough so he voice was carried through the sandy dunes. Kaiyo's question could wait to be asked, for the moment, she just wanted to enjoy the company of one of her greatest friends.

Kaiyo was such a simple Shinigami, it was easy to get her to agree with something using something that she wished for inwardly. Her amazement at the thought made the wolf billow in laughter and use his tail to poke the girl’s back. His tail immediately snaps back towards the ground like it was previously. “Looks like some things are out to get you because of your costume.” The wolf glared off into the ivory sands once more and crouched down as if was about to pounce. His body quivered as the Reiryoku flowed like a river through his form. The wolf then opened his maw and a thin black tear began forming in the air before them. Soon that thin line turned into an image that looked like teeth and began opening one by one.

Now before them both lay a black void that was to is their transport to the world of the living, The wolf looked over his shoulder at her to see her expression. “Are you ready Kaiyo?” he asked as if she hadn’t been in one of these before. Then a question popped into the wolf’s head.

”Why would she want to go there?”Raikou thought with a stern expression built on his muzzle. Of all the places that Kaiyo could have picked, why did she have to pick the real world? Did Kaiyo not fear of Raikou’s rampage amongst the human masses?

Well for the time being, the thought would just have to fly by until she said something herself. It more than likely was going to be some silly whim that Rai couldn’t’ reject. “Let’s go…” he said. His expression appeared to change to one of mirth, enjoyment. One paw stepped into the sands and the second moved into the black void. Now they were heading to the world of the living…

Kaiyo looked back over her shoulder as she felt something hit her back. Utterly bewildered at the empty sand dunes that surrounded the pair. She shrugged lightly, 'Yeah, i think so too' she added. Ignoring the fact that Raikou had known what had happened and had clearly been the one to poke her in the back. Simple minds.

The girl smiled lightly as the tear began to open in front of them. Kaiyo had seen these a million times, usually holding a different expression when she did so though. t was odd, a shinigami travelling with a hollow...A shinigami being friends with a hollow. In a sense, it felt wrong. Though in more than a sense, it was wrong. Irrelevance drifting through her mind as Raikou glanced back and asked Kaiyo if she was ready. No she just wanted to go sight-seeing first actually, with all the unique sand that swaying around them. The girl's smile grew, 'Ready!' she cheered. Throwing her right arm forwards as if they were charging into battle.

That all too familiar rush of air, the less energy circulating t real world made it all seem different. Kaiyo couldn't explain it any better than that. Their sun never shone as brightly, but their bustling streets chirped with energy. The humans that were living, their lives themselves viewed only as warped reflections of what once was. It was refreshing in a way though, it added a shimmering sense of reality to the blurred life many Shinigami accepted as normal. It was calming even. It was also where Kaiyo had first met Raikou.