Avoiding the storm *Mania*

Kaiyo had lost track of time. Imbued with her new training vigour the Captain had awoken fairly early that day to go for a run around Rukongai. Donning her standard shinigami robes without the Captain's Haori, the girl had even opted to tie her hair up; not wanting to spend her entire run pushing it out of her face. The initial breeze of the day had calmed before the storm hit, just as the girl was entering the much lower districts of Rukongai. Usually a shinigami out alone, especially of the girl's stature, wouldn't have been so safe, but given the speed at which she was moving- Kaiyo was fine. The bustling streets had barely shifted to let the girl through, instead allowing her the opportunity to weave in and out of the buzzing market stalls and thieving reprobates that bundled along the cobbled streets.

Kaiyo hurdled over a moving table, glancing over her shoulder at whatever the blurring object was as she bent low to the ground, skidding along the earth as she dashed down the sharp turn left. Leaving behind her the kicked up swirls of clay and earth, curling in on itself. So, her run continued, her speed increasing to a sprint as the blonde blur sped through more and more districts- without any direction of course. Her heart rate sped up to a constant beating as it pulsated through her body, the girl so entangled in her thoughts that she was oblivious to the darkened sky.

The crack of lightning caught her eye though, her eyes widening as she slowed down. Only then taking notice that she'd spent her entire day running. The girl paused, twisting around the abandoned street as she felt that first splatter of rain drip down her arm. Kaiyo raised her head slowly to the sky, watching with a mild amusement as the skies opened. Releasing a torrent of rain onto the panting Captain. A slight squeal and the girl rushed into the nearest building. Trying to avoid being utterly soaked as she twisted around and shut the door behind her. She didn't even have a clue what building she had just rushed into...

Another getaway, he had made a critical mistake this time, he stole from someone of the higher bandit clans, and now he was on the run from them, he was getting on shallow water these days, stealing and breaking into clan hideouts, he had become to confident, or simply trying too much to survive, either way he was in big trouble.
He took a few shortcuts and hid in an old run down building, it was one of his personal hideouts, he usually did not use it, and sleept on the streets, as he did not want anyone to know he lived there.
All of the money he could spare was used to buy a small bed and a table for the hideout, and he had also stolen allot of half used candles to keep the place lit when it got dark, this was his little place of paradise that no one should intrude on, it was all his, where he could be alone from the world.
Suddenly he saw a flash of light around the doors edge, and quickly after came the sound of lightning, Zanshin fell backwards from where he was standing falling onto his bed, he could hear water droplets beginning to fall on the roof of the building, he was now glad that the roof of the building was not leaking, that had been one of the biggest surprises to him about the place, but he was not scared of getting wet, he was terrified of lightning, the next second a figure opened the door, as another flash and crackle came just outside the door, Zanshin was frozen in fear, a strong gust of wind went through the building and blew out the candle, so now he could not see who it was that had intruded, he shook of his fear slightly and went backward hitting the wall there "Who... who is there?" he said in a very scared voice, his right hand was inside his sleeve as if looking for something there.
Though it was dark, there was still a slight light from outside, so you could still see a slight outline of the two inside the building.

Kaiyo's heart sank when she heard some shuffling around, and a whispered voice of fear. The darkness rang through her eyes in a tunnel of swirling shadows as she twisted around; another crack of lightning flashing outside the dishevelled hut for a moment as the short girl took a small step forward. 'Erm...Hi?' she smiled weakly, trying to sound as sweet as possible so she didn't scare the hell out the shadow anymore than she may have already.

For the brief moment that she'd been caught in the storm, Kaiyo was already soaked to her bones. Her heavy wet clothes clinging to her body as the dank room started to feel more and more humid. Kaiyo tugged at her sodden sleeve, wiping it along her face as she took a step closer to Mania. 'Sorry about rushing in' she laughed awkwardly, glad that for the time being, her face was hidden. 'I didn't want to get that wet, mind if i wait in here for a while?' It was cheeky request, and she knew it, but hopefully the stranger wouldn't mind too much.

It seemed it was not anyone dangerous that was coming inside, and the voices had for some reason gone silent, Zan lets go of what he was searching for inside his sleeve, but he could not let his guard down before he knew who it was he was dealing with, he had to calm down, if he was to scared, this person might not respect what he was about to say, he collected his mind, and stood up from the bed, he made a slightly more neutral face, then took a match and lightened the candle, he then picked up the candle in front of his face and held it up to see who had entered his hideout, he was surprised it seemed like it was just a young girl that broke in, but he could risk revealing his hideout like this, it was hard to decide what to do "I do not like having people in my house, so would you please le----" Zan frooze up as another lightning struck outside, he was standing there beginning to tremble lightly, he then dropped the candle and bend together, curling into a ball "Please... please don't leave" his fear of the lightning was greater then his fear of getting caught by any of the bandits.

Kaiyo squinted in the darkness as the figure began to move around, uncertain of her strange surroundings the girl remained planted to her spot. Becoming quite curious in the split second before the candle lit. Her blue eyes shimmered in the flickering flame, gently spanning the room to get a feel of her surroundings. Not that she could see much, the barren fixtures seemed so lonely in their placements; but the swaying shadows from the candle surely didn't help such an appearance. Not wanting to seem rude, the blonde girl smiled lightly at the stranger as soon as the light hit her. Her expression fading as the man began to ask her to leave. Of course it had been a long shot to stay, but it was still so wet outside. Trying to hide her disappointment, the girl nodded firmly.

Turning away from the man as another bolt of lightning hit, so close to the small house this time that the ground itself rumbled on impact. Kaiyo ignored it, not wanting to linger she headed back towards the door. Stopping in her tracks when the light behind her went out, the hollow thump of the candle hitting the floor trailed off behind her. The blonde haired shinigami twisted around, her wet hair whipping droplets of water around her as she heard the man whimper from the floor.

Her eyes widened in panic as she rushed towards the man, kneeling down beside Zan as she wrapped her arms around him. Aside from anything else, his small little home wasn't exactly warm, so despite her sodden clothes, Kaiyo figured she could warm him up. Holding no further concern for whether or not it was appropriate, the girl could only feel bad for the poor soul. The girl smiled, 'I'm Kaiyo by the way...Don't like lightning i take it?' Her voice was almost a whisper, soft and trusting, it transcended the aggressive storm that continued to rage outside.

He did not mind that she came that close, normally he would freak out if anyone got close to him, but right now he did not mind, he was only a boy at hearth and mind, he had lived for many years, but due to special reasons his current state had not taken effect until a few years ago, so for all people would care, he was nothing more than a young boy.
He looked slightly up at her with his blue green eyes, it was hard to tell what exactly the color of his eyes were though, but it was clear to see in his eyes that he was very scared about it all "I... I really hate lightning"
He had once experienced an enemy of his being hit by lightning right in front of him, and it terrified him, if he had been just been partly higher, it had been him that was taken down by the lightning.
He felt it was apropiate to tell his name aswell, he decided to use the same name he had given the shinigami he meet a few days back "You can call me Zanshin, Zan for short" His body stopped trembling again, the last one had just been so close it reminded him too much of that day.
"I... I am fine now" Zan stood up, and began fumbling a bit around for the candle again, when he finally found it, he placed it on the table and lit it up once more, he looked a bit concerned at his match sticks.
"You are welcome to stay while the storm is raging outside" He sat down on his bed again, as it was the only comfortable furniture he owned, and it had not been cheap either, not that it was of the best quality, it sure beat an old dusty bed roll anytime.

Kaiyo nodded lightly, she'd heard weirder names. Zan was comparatively quite normal. The girl loosened her grip around the stranger to allow him to stand. Her own confusion caught in partite of emotions that Zan seemed to be experiencing. Such a fear of lightning was quite an oddity for the Captain to even stumble across, especially considering her Zanpakuto. Not that she'd be mentioning that one whilst it was still raining. Kaiyo sat up on the bed, shuffling backwards against the wall as she silently watched Zanshin mill around his little home. The Captain shifted away politely when Zan sat back down next to her on his bed. Kaiyo felt suddenly quite awkward for not moving, but the thought of returning to the cold wet outside dampened such worries.

'Thanks Z' she smiled politely, her head tilting to the side to get a better look at Zanshin. There was a sincerity to Kaiyo's smile that seemed to banish any other motive beyond a genuine likeness, for any reason to smile. 'So, you a shinigami then?' trying to get some kind of conversation going before the dreaded awkward silence had time to descend.

Zan did not really mind her sitting next to him, it was at any time better than sitting alone in this weather, besides he could dry up the bed easily once this annoying weather was over, and they had some sun again.
His eyes opened wide and he looked over at the girl when she asked if he was a shinigami, he felt a small disgust going trough him, he disliked shinigami allot, of course not only shinigami, he disliked almost all people, there was no one he really would trust, anyone could stab him in the back the moment he lets down his guard.
"Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?" he asked a bit cold, he then looked over at kaiyo "Well either way, no I am not a shinigami, and I am happy I am not one of those ruthless law enforcers" he heard another thunder crackle, but it was much farther away this time, so he was able to keep his nerves in check for now.

Zan figured it was better to turn away from that subject for now "So what are you doing out here in the slums, not many young girls goes around the outer rukongai, much less the outskirts of the slums, it is pretty dangerous out here after all" It was not like he was one to talk though he was only slightly higher then her, so little it was barely visible, and neither did they look much apart in age either, if it wasn't for their hair colors they could probably be seen as brother and sister, but he still wondered why she would have ventured so far out, maybe she was a noble daughter that wanted to see the slums, and got separated from her guards, or she could of course simply be a street kid like himself, but he just had a weird feeling that it was not the case.

Kaiyo's expression froze...Her mind entering a panic mode as to how she'd suddenly offended the stranger. His cold tone so much sharper that the lightning outside and drawing more attention from the girl as well. She turned slowly to face Zan, still weakly smiling, uncertain of the correct response as he continued. The penny dropped- clattering against the ground in a thundering slow motion. Kaiyo casually traced her eyes along her own shoulder; wondering what fate had made her decide to not wear her white Haori. That surely would've gone down a treat. Her shoulders shrunk inwards, slouching to hide the white stripes of her uniform; the candle light was suddenly more appealing. Of course Kaiyo was in no danger if she was found out, but it just seemed like an awful hassle to play out an argument she'd had so many times.

The question turned to specifics as Kaiyo tried to decide whether to lie or not. Weighing up the options had started as such a reasonable idea, before the single thought of being told to leave and being stuck out in the storm again settled. Without a single shadow of a doubt, Kaiyo answered, practically cutting off Zan before he could even finish. 'I just do a bit o business around here...Been following some guys for a while and lost track of em when the rain hit' Kaiyo screamed inside her head; wondering how the hell her cover story had managed to make her sound so shady. Even better, was the low voice that had tumbled out with her words...Smooth.

Zan was not sure if he bought the story of her chasing someone, yet if there was something he learned in Rukongai, it was that assassins, robers and bandits came in all genders and sizes, one had only to take himself as an example, he looked like nothing more then a weak street kid, yet he could out run almost anyone on rukongai, and if it finally came down to it, he could defend himself better than a common bandit.
Zan wanted to learn a little more about this person before he could begin relaxing, he did not trust people easily, and if she was a bounty hunter then it could be dangerous to be near her.
Everything had to be taken into account, he had made too many mistakes lately, he could not afford to make more mistakes, even if he was laying low for now, he would probably still need to move to the richer districts, maybe he could get a job there if he got some new clothes and a bath.
Staying on these streets was way to dangerous after he pulled the big stunt with the big bandit gang, everything could be a threat, even this innocent looking girl could be the enemy, he could not rest even for a moment, after a minute of silence or so, Zan broke the silence "any special reason you were tracking them?" he asked, his question was followed by a strong wind hitting his little house, making the house give off small cracking sounds for short time before they stopped again.