The House with Many Questions (Auryuu)

After walking through the door, Shakaku sighed and took her shoes off placing them beside the door. She dropped her book bag on the couch and sat, resting for a bit. She wasn't tired today, surprisingly in good spirits, too. Looking around her home she figured she would clean. She lived in a small apartment that had a tiny living room and an even tinier kitchen. Behind the couch was a desk that was littered with crumpled papers and pencils of all sizes. In front of the couch was a small table that was stacked with books of all kinds. In the small kitchen, pots and pans lay on the counter tops. Some were dirty and some were clean. Some she wasn't sure if it was one or the other. To the right of the opening of the door there was a tight hallway that lead to a bathroom and her bedroom, which she rarely spent any time in. The bed took up most of the floor space anyway. Resting on the windowsill above her desk was her fat orange cat named Paku. She was napping, like she always did when she wasn't eating or half heartedly playing with one of her mouse toys. It got lonely in her tiny little apartment but having Paku there to keep her company was a large help. Standing, she began by tidying up all the books on her little, tiny table. Afterwards, she began organizing all the trash and papers that were tossed around and on her desk, occasionally petting Paku in the process. "It gets messy in here real fast," Shakaku muttered, picking up all the crumpled papers that missed the trashcan. Stretching she surveyed the area she already cleaned. "This is going to take longer than I thought..."

Auryuu took a pause before walking inside the house. He felt awkward, and soon also stepped inside, to see more of the house. Auryuu took off his shoes following Shakaku's example as he also set them against the door. Auryuu watched her sit down as she set her bag down. She had a nice place, small, but it had a better location then his house. Auryuu looked all over the room, everything was pretty disorganized. Auryuu had trumped her book collection, but, she was way more messier than him. Shakaku took a rest. She deserved it after all she had been through for an academy student.

Auryuu laughed a little once she mentioned the mess. He quickly took his eyes on the cat that eyed him. The cats stare was strange as Auryuu soon took his attention at the fat, but cute cat. Auryuu looked to Shakaku as she sat in her chair, he had almost forgotten about her injuries. Auryuu walked over at a medium place as he quickly knelt down to look at the cuts all over her legs. "I promised I would help you", he said as he smiled. Auryuu gently touched the wounds, measuring the deepness, as he ran his hands against her soft legs. They were cut everywhere. Auryuu frowned as he ripped off his other sleeve, like he had done for her brother. He quickly but tenderly wrapped it around the wounds, as he layered it about twice. Auryuu soon finished tying a small knot in the front to keep the bandage still.

The cuts were pretty deep. Auryuu couldn't imagine what would've happened if Tatsuya didn't intervene. Maybe he could've killed it. Then again, maybe he couldn't of. "Does it hurt", he said as he gave a sypathetic look to the young girl.

Shakaku tilted her head. "It's sore but nothing too bad. It's not at a spot that gets bent often, unless I start running or anything." She smiled as she assured him. The cuts were deep, deeper than any cuts she has ever had but she wasn't going to complain. Auryuu was kind enough to come to her house and bandage her up for her. She examined the bandaging. It wrapped three times around her calf before being tied off by this torn sleeve. "Do you want anything?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood. He looked out of place in her tiny, little house. He was so well put together. It contrasted sharply with the disarray her home was in. She walked over to the kitchen, arranging the pots and pans so it wouldn't seem like quite a mess and started fixing a pot of tea.

Auryuu looked downward to her foot, further examining the wrapping, and soon looked up to Shakaku who had begun talking. Her smile hurt him. The fact that he was right next to her and couldn't stop the hollow, or help her fast enough, but Tatsuya could. That whole situation went under his skin. Auryuu frowned as he bowed his head down. His hands lay across the bandages still, but loosely lay against them.

Soon she moved. Auryuu hands just fell to the side as she stood up to do arrange the place. When she asked him when he wanted anything he just answered with a "No". She started arranging the pots and pans. Auryuu brought his head up to her from across the room. She started making some tea in a small teapot. Auryuu raised his body, pushing off his leg as he stood again. "Tell me about Tatsuya..." He said faintly.

Shakaku froze when she heard her brothers name. She wasn't quite sure what to say about him. She hadn't seen him in so many years before their last encounter. She wasn't sure what information was important and what was not. Instead she started with the obvious. "He's my brother. I don't really know much about what he did after he arrived here. He was always into fighting when we were kids." She frowned. "He would always beat me up when we were kids, since I am the younger of the two of us. Whenever it boiled down to it, though, he was always protecting me. It always pissed me off because he's only five years older than me! It's not like I was a baby or anything," she growled. After the water heated up the put the tea leaves in. Pouring a cup for her and Auryuu, she sat down on the couch next to him. Staring down into the tea, she thought hard to recall the memories from before she died. "I remember the day we had a big earthquake. My mum and dad told me to get somewhere safe, I don't even remember, it was like a closet or something. And I was freaking out because he had gone running with his friend and he wasn't home yet. Turns out that he got crushed under the rubble... he died that day." She took a gulp of her tea but it was hard to swallow. "Next thing I remember was being at his funeral and then that was it." She looked at Auryuu. "It was tough on all of us, especially his friend, whom he saved." There was a pause as her fat cat jumped onto the couch and nestled in between her and Auryuu.

Auryuu sat on the couch. His eyes lay slit open, as he listened to Shakaku's story. Tatsuya's death was a sad story, especially for Shakaku. He could tell. Auryuu adjusted himself as he rubbed the back of his neck. Auryuu was not too comfortable being on the couch, and it was more awwkward when the cat seemed to wedge inbetween him and Shakaku. Auryuu sipped his tea, which Shakaku had given to him, before she sat next to him. It was bland, like most teas. The taste wet his mouth, but the warmness of the liquid made his throat hot as he cleared his throat to enue his next few sentences quality.

"Shakaku, Tatsuya is said to have killed a noble, and has been rogue ever since the shinigami tracked him down. The rumors say he's not a good man, and that the gotei want him dead. I'm not sure what this whole situation means, but he saved you, so I will let it slide.", Auryuu sat up as he drank the remainder of the tea to seem courteus. It wasn't water, but it was something. He didn't want to show Shakaku his distaste. He set it down on the closest table.


Auryuu faced the door. He turned his head back to look at Shakaku. He tried to diffuse to tension. "Do you still need help with your kido?". A small faked smile crossed his face.

"Killed a noble..." Shakaku's eyebrows furrowed when she frowned. "That's why you seemed to know him. That's why you wanted to take him back to the Soul Society." She set her cup down, also. She wasn't even sure why she was drinking it. She didn't even like tea. She pulled her cat into her lap and she gave an unsatisfied growl. "Somehow it doesn't surprise me he would do such a thing." She shook her head. Tatsuya was a troublemaker but he was good at never getting caught.

Shakaku was shaken from her thoughts by Auryuu's question. "Oh! I'm getting better at it!" She grinned. "I would he so happy to show you, I have been practicing! That book you showed me really helped." She brushed the hair from her face, embarrassed. "It's fine if you don't want to help me, though. I know you're a Shinigami and must have better things to do than assist a little student like me."

Auryuu smiled a little bit. She thought he didn't want to help her. For Auryuu he just liked company so of course he didn't mind if he took a break from his books, and his small seemingly meaningless shinigami duties. Auryuu was in more of a playful mood even after that the Tatsuya incident had happened, he just let it escape from his mind, as he opened the door.

"After you". Auryuu motioned for Shakaku to come with him, giving a bigger smile, to show her he didn't mind helping her. She was smart and had potiential so kido would not be a hard thing to for her to learn. After all Auryuu was terrible with kido and had gotten better with it.

Shakaku smiled. Setting Paku down on the ground, she slipped on her shoes and walked out the door, following Auryuu.

(OOC I'll start the kido thread if you want )

OOC: sounds great =D