Friends? (Shadowfire and open)

Masaru stepped into the bar, and instantly, the entire room went quiet for a moment to take in the sight of this giant who had graced them with his presence. Masaru gave them all a polite wave and approached the bartender. "I would like a fruit juice of some kind," he said. "Preferably cranberry, if you have it." The bartender seemed stunned for a moment, but then recovered, and said, "Yes, of course." He went under the bar for a moment and re-emerged with a bottle of cranberry fruit juice.

"Thank you," said Masaru. He took the bottle, paid for it, and then walked over to take a seat at a table in the corner of the room, waiting for Sakumara to join him.

"I'll take the same thing as my tall friend." Sakumara said to the bartender. Once he got his drink he walked, partially limped over towards Masaru. He sat down in his seat and raised his glass then took a sip.

"It's funny most people think I'm strange for asking for juice, but I hate the carbonation in soda and water is to bland. No taste to it, makes it disgusting. He decided to start the conversation on something pointless

Masaru raised his glass to his veiled face, then slipped it under. If you were paying close attention, you could just make out a bit of white hair. It would look like a beard to anyone who was paying close attention. No one knew, but Masaru had practiced for hours the way he ate so as to be able to go to social functions and eat and drink, but not reveal his true face in order to so. "I don't find it strange at all...fruit juice is nutritious and delicious." He took another sip, before facing Sakumara again.

"So, Sakumara...tell me about yourself. What do you hope to gain from the Shinigami Academy?" Masaru had high hopes for this friendship, but he had to make sure that Sakumara was the type of person he wanted to be friends with. If Sakumara had a personality that Masaru deemed unlawful, as much as he would hate to, he'd have to nip the friendship in the bud, lest he be forced later in his career to apprehend a friend for a legal transgression.

OOC: gosh darnit I lost what I typed.

"Well I only came to the shinigami academy so that I could go onto the gotei 13.... But I came here so that I could make some friends," he said this softly. "There's no point in a lonely existence." He said this sadly almost as if remembering. Sakumara knew that if Masaru didn't like his opinions, his down right serious personality defining opinions, then there wasn't much point in trying to become good friends.

"Well I could've guessed that you wished to enter the Gotei 13 by entering the Shinigami Academy...I mean what you wish to achieve by entering that esteemed group," said Masaru. He would've smiled reassuringly at Sakumara if his face hadn't been hidden...but Masaru could not honestly say he trusted anyone enough to show them his true face. "I do hope that we can be friends, even good friends..." He took another sip from his drink as he considered his next words carefully. "A lonely existence is certainly undesirable. Those without friends often make bad decisions," he said enigmatically.

Sakumara sat quietly in his seat for a second taking another sip of the slightly sour, good sour, cranberry juice. "I was lonely for most of my living life. Except for when I played soccer. Me and the others on the team we were like brothers. We gave it our all, we sweat, and sometimes even bleed with each other. His eyes weren't really looking at the table, but it seemed he was remembering something good. "I was happy then." His eye focused back onto Masaru's hidden face.

"That's why I decided to join the gotei 13. When you risk your life, when you fight for a common cause you can't help but to make friends, people that you trust. That is the reason why I joined... He said this with conviction and a small light in his eyes.

He sighed and looked down taking a sip again. "What about you? Why did you join? So you could help keep the law? Sakumara asked this seriously not even the slightest bit about making a joke about the way he asked.

Masaru listened to Sakumara's story intently and with interest. "That is a good reason, I think, to join the Gotei 13. Though it is not my primary reason for doing so, I admit that I hope that the Gotei 13 would bring me a sense of camaraderie and...belonging, that I often found lacking in my life." Beneath his veil, Masaru smiled genuinely for the first time since he had entered the Shinigami Academy. It seemed that today would be a day where he made a friend, and perhaps even a good one.

"You are correct," Masaru answered Sakumara's question equally seriously. "I intend to join the Gotei 13 in order to keep the law. It is what holds society together, what keeps us from being different from beasts... Maybe it could be attributed to over-analyzing or the imagination, but it seemed that Masaru placed a lot of significance on the last part of his sentence. "We must separate ourselves from the beasts, or there is no purpose to our comparatively more enlightened existence."

Sakumara had absentmindedly noted the slight difference between beast and his other words, it was quickly forgotten at the moment, but still in the back of his head. "Alright I get that. The law keeps order, but let me ask a personal question. This is just out of curiosity. He was trying to keep it from seeming rude. "But what is you view on the law? What is your definition of justice? He was honestly curious and although to some poeple these kinds of topics may seem dark and dreary, maybe morbid, but he never did he always enjoyed the difference in opinions and trying to find answers to impossible questions.

He relaxed back into his seat after he finished his drink and chomped down on an ice cube offhandedly, ready and patient for his companions answer.

"My view on the law? Well...it is not *my* view that matters. I am not the person that legislates. The law is determined by the Sotaicho and Central 46. My loyalties lie with their definitions of the law ultimately," Masaru explained. He took another sip of cranberry juice before elaborating. "In order to prove to myself that I am worthy of being a Shinigami, I must adhere to my principles, and their orders- treating everything as though it was a great personal task to be completed. Do you understand?"

Masaru went silent for a moment, and then continued, "I faced ridicule and scorn, fear and hatred, everyday of my life because of my appearance. Unfortunately, that is not against the law. I could do nothing unless I was physically attacked, and almost no one is foolish enough to provoke someone like me. So...I must prove myself, above and beyond the call of duty, show myself to be indispensable. In order to be accepted. And that means...following the law, being disciplined and principled."

"Hmm so what your saying is that all you want is to be accepted and the only way that can happen is if you follow the rules. I don't mean to be rude I'm just trying to figure this out." He knew he was probably getting into a touchy subject so he decided to let it slide after Masaru says what he says. He was now also curious as to what Masaru looked like, going to great lengths to hide himself and being discriminated for what he looked like, but if he was going to that much trouble to hide it and having had bad experiences with it, Sakumara deducted that a first time meeting would not be appropriate to ask something like this.

Decideing on trying to steer he conversaiton away from being too bad "I was made fun of and lonely for most of my life too, but for me I didn't know why. sighing, life sure can suck huh?

(OOC: Sorry if I am not supposed to be here but, I assumed since you said “shadowfire and open” that I could post as well…if not let me know and I will delete this and you two can carry on as if nothing ever happened. Oh and sorry to talk in riddles…I sound like a bad video game.)

Apollo was seated at the end of the bar listening quietly to two of his fellow students chat idly back and forth. Staring into his glass of water he wished for something stronger to drink, but knew that if he was caught drunk, that he probably would be thrown out of the academy.

One was tall, even by Apollo standards and kept himself hidden behind a dark veil. The only thing that Apollo had been able to make out about the tall one was a white beard, while the other was shorter that Apollo with robes that looked too big for him. The shorter one’s hair looked as if he had been trying to run into the heart of a tornado and got struck by lightning.

“Excuse me, for interrupting and listening in to what was not mine to do so, but you view the law as something that must be carried out at all costs and reasoning?” He asked the tall veiled fellow. “What I mean to say is, you would carry the law out even if it went against your own personal resolve? For instance say that you are called to settle a dispute against a woman and a merchant, where the merchant claims she stole food of some sort. The woman doesn’t deny these claims, but tells you she stole the food so that her children must have something to eat.

“According to the law you should punish the woman, but then you would deny the children their caregiver, there you would have to choose to uphold the law or look the other way.” Apollo looked the fellow up and down a grin on his face, “I mean no offense in anyway friend, but you may be intimidating at first glance though I doubt you would deny starving children a meal.”

OOC: Join right in.


Sakumara looked at the man who had decidedly joined in on the conversation. The man was blunt and to the point, pushing on rudeness, but he basically got out what he had been trying to figure out. Well to an extent. He wanted to know what Masaru was like and his opinion on justice.

The newcomer looked to be sickly and quite tall for normal standards, but no where near his friends massive form. He also appeared to be drinking, something that was prohibited by the academy, but the rule was only enforced when it was quite obvious. Remembering the last one who decided to come back drunk getting the boot. It was quite funny actually cause he hit on one of the female teachers who had literally given him the boot... the pointy toed boot to be exact.

Snickering at the memory inside he re focused on the present and awaited Masaru's answer.

"Yes, that is more or less how I feel," said Masaru in response to Sakumara. "I am sorry to hear that your life has been hard as well. I-" Masaru's sentence was interrupted by the appearance of a newcomer, another student, by the looks of him. He was tall by human standards, but nowhere near Masaru's height. He looked sickly, but since he was an Academy student, Masaru guessed that that was no indication of his physical health. Besides that, though, there was something about the man that Masaru did not like. Perhaps it was the way Masaru perceived his tone and manner to be both mocking and accusatory, as well as a tad sanctimonious. Or perhaps it was that he had failed to at least introduce himself before interrupting their conversation with a question that sounded accusatory.

"My name is Masaru Arata, and to put it succinctly, yes...the law *is* my personal resolve. Given the situation as you have posed it, I would indeed punish the mother for her transgression of the law, as I would anyone, be they beggar or nobleman. As for the child, I would pay the merchant to provide the child with the intended meal. That taken care of, I would then do my best to find the child a *suitable* caretaker- one who has the means to provide for a child, and legally. Not one so irresponsible as to stoop to the level of a petty thief."

"My views may seem harsh to you...but life is extraordinarily difficult...my...father told me on his deathbed, 'Dying is easy, living is hard. There are those who throw their hearts into life only to have them shattered, and those that hide their hearts away so life cannot harm them. But in the end, in hiding the keys to their hearts, they risk losing them themselves.'" Masaru paused to take a long look at his reflection in his cup. "I believe he meant that a life in moderation would yield the most desirable result. And what better to govern life, than the law?"

Masaru took a long sip from his cup, draining it of juice, all the while keeping his eyes on the newcomer. "I hope you find my explanation of my principles satisfactory. And by the way; I was raised to introduce myself before questioning a man's philosophy. It is the bare minimum of courtesy."

Apollo smiled as the tall fellow answered without hesitation, “I am very sorry, it was rude of me not to introduce myself beforehand. My name is Apollo Darknight, quite and ironic name if you think about it Apollo being the god of the sun and all. You Masaru Arata are rare in the fact that you have a strong resolve not many do. A resolve that can be broken wasn’t strong enough in the first place…Someone told me that once when I was alive, but like the rest of those memories I can’t name the man.

Taking a drink from his cup Apollo’s face took on a solemn expression, “Your father was a wise man, living is hard, but it is well worth it and though the heart may shatter there is always someone that can put it back together. As for the keys to the heart, I often pondered the fact that we held not our own keys, but those of our soul mates.” He looked up from his glass his eyes blank as he was lost in thought focused once more. “Ah but, that is a discussion for another time my tall friend.”

Apollo’s eyes drifted to the shorter young man seated next to Masaru. “Life may have been difficult, but it is not how you die or when you die that matters in this world or that; simply how you were remembered. If you were a good person, people will remember that, if not well you may be a victim of grave robbing. What is there we can do to stop a grave robbing though; shinigami don’t interfere in the world of the living unless a hollow is involved or a lost soul.” Apollo raised his glass and drank slowly as he waited for them both to respond and was disappointed that he was almost out.

Sakumara had his eye brow raised to the taller man giving him a partial skeptical look. 'Is he trying to lecture me?' the answer to that question was debatable, so deciding to try and give the rude guy a chance without being harsh he said "You don't need to tell me any of this because I already know that, but I was probably only remembered by my mother who is soon to follow me into Soul Society. My past is almost of no consequence to me any more. What happened happened and I really don't care to remember most of it and anyone who doesn't like my attitude or opinion, well they can shove it cause I don't care." Taking a sip of his now only water and ice he sat back. "The only ones that opinions matters are the ones who actually try and make a difference, the others just ridicule you or use you and they just don't matter."

He had stated it a little awkwardly, but in truth he only cared about the opinions of his friends and those that would try and be nice, anyone else he could care less.

Masaru took Apollo's statement and turned it over in his head, mulling over it, but ultimately rejected it. "A shattered heart is difficult if not impossible to heal," he asserted. "For example; a Hollow. And there are tales of Shinigami who have undergone Hollow-like transformation, and outlawed. I imagine their hearts were lost forever in the process." He grunted, though out of derision, or out of a simple ruefulness of lack of knowledge, was unclear. "As for keys...well, I don't know about that. I don't think I am the type of...man to have a soul mate. If soul mates exist."

He paused, and then after listening to Sakumara speak, said, "I agree completely. The law makes a difference, the largest physical difference in peoples' lives. That is why I follow it and my superiors to the letter."

Standing up from his seat and stretching a little "I'm going to go get a refill. You want one?" Sakumara asked Masaru gesturing with his now completely empty cup. He had become thirsty again and wanted some more of that semi sour like juice.

Apollo finished his drink setting it down on the bar, a smirk plain on his face, “Well now my close minded comrades, obeying the law is fine and good, but there are times when you won’t be able to uphold the law without breaking another. What will you do when that time comes? Would you punish yourself, or simply over look it?”

Apollo’s face went grim as looked at the two of them, “There comes a time in everyone’s life where they have to make a choice. When that time comes I hope your view of the law doesn’t keep you from making the right choice. It was my sense of honor that got me killed; now I am given a second chance. I don’t plan on letting my pride kill me again.” Apollo paused taking a breath and gathering his wits, “Don’t make the same mistakes friends that you made in life.”

Skumara paused for a second. "I follow what I want to follow and believe in. What I want to believe in. I am not as into the law as Masaru over here" nodding towards the big man. "I am the type of man who for the most part does just about anything that he wants to at the time and will continue doing so until needs to and I don't regret that. My way is to protect those close to me any way possible (OOC:sound like flipping Naruto here XP) "and to do what I think is right. Thankfully my way of right coincides with the law."

Clapping Apollo on the shoulder and saying"I'm sorry you have had a hard life as well, but now this time is the time we can fix our mistakes... Maybe that's why life continues in a way after death. So we can have another chance. Shaking his head "Either way lets not screw this chance up.

ooc: sorry Masaru's being kind of a dick here; just the way he'd react (please don't think i personally dislike your character, cause i don't )

The muscles around Masaru's tightened at Apollo's words. His temper hadn't quite ignited, but it was certainly simmering because of what had been said, and it was noticeable. His spiritual pressure went from being ambient to just a hair oppressive; had his cup been full, it would have caused small ripples to form in the drink. "Close minded, Mr. Darknight? I find that statement close-minded in itself. The law is not necessarily an unchanging bastion of morality; it is subject to change as nearly everything else in life is. The law is not contradictory; and even if it were, I would follow the law that better kept order over the other, and my conscience would be clear."

Masaru stood up, taking his cup with him. "I will join you for that refill," he said to Sakumara. Masaru made to go to the bar, but stopped to say one more thing to Apollo. "With all due respect, Apollo, I find it difficult to believe that your code of morals in life was honorable, based on my conversation with you." That being said, he approached the bar, still fuming. "A refill, please!"

The bartender, visibly frightened, handed over a refill. "O- on the house, sir."

"No need, I will pay for it. Thank you for the offer!" Masaru put his money down at the bar, and took a long drink from his cup, to calm himself down. I can only hope Apollo and I will not have a serious confrontation someday...

A look of regret passed over Apollo’s face, “I am sorry to say, that sadly I can’t deny that claim Masaru. I only remember what I have seen in flashbacks. For all I know, I could have been from the same scum that killed me. That is why I won’t let a narrow view of the law impede my personal view of right and wrong.

“Of course I could have been something much more in life, maybe I was killed because I posed a threat to the criminal’s way of life. Or maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time no one really knows.” Apollo chuckled at a personal joke then looked at both of the students with solemn eyes, “I just hope when the time comes we can put aside our differences and fight as allies. I really would hate to see personal views stop a team from completing a mission.”

Sakumara stared on at the two in silence he didn't know what to do or say at the moment to make either of them feel better. Masaru was irked at Apollo for questioning him and the laws and Apollo seemed to be sad about his unknown past.

So deciding for the moment that silence for a few seconds was best, he went over to the bar and asked for a refill from the still slightly shaken barkeep. When he got his drink he took a sip and sighed. Feeling the silence around them he thought. 'screw it I hate this kind of silence'. "We just meet each other and I'm sure were going to be working together for a long time so for the moment lets just have fun. The serious stuff can come later."

"You can be certain that I will be nothing but civil and reliable while we both fight for justice, intentionally or not," Masaru said. "I am sure that there will come several times where we must work together to uphold the law, or even just to survive. My personal feelings will not interfere with team cohesiveness and efficacy until I am given reasonable suspicion to act otherwise."

He addressed Sakumara next. "All right. What exactly did you have in mind?"

Sakumara looked a little shocked at first then frowned a little. "I don't know. What do you guys like to do for fun?" For the most part he was good with doing anything, but he didn't know what to do about having fun in soul society. He'd never had much time or want to do anything fun. He could probably make anything work for him though.

(OOC: Sorry it took me so long.)

Apollo stared at Sakamaru, “I don’t normally have fun, I spend most of my time in the Library, though I got kicked out today for some reason. Of course, my idea of fun would probably offend the big guy over there.” He gestured towards Masaru with a nod of his head, “I like to find out information that I am not supposed to have, if you catch my drift.”

Apollo laughed as the bartender showed signs of fear when faced with an angry Marsu, “You know, if you weren’t so tall and mysterious looking people might not be afraid of you. Though what can I say, most of the students at the academy won’t even talk to me after that incident with picking a fight with the squad eleven captain. Though in my defense I didn’t need her help with a fight, I had it all under control and she just helped anyway.”

Apollo held his ribs in memory of the kick that had sent him through a tree, “I can’t even fight until these heal, I chose to let them heal naturally as a reminder to get stronger.” Apollo’s eyes went serious, “I will defeat her in battle the next time we meet.”