Slumming (Open)

Rael sat on her foster parent's rooftop. They were almost never home now, and its not like Rael needed to be looked after at this point in her life. She knew how to be safe. That said, knowing how, and practicing safety are two different things. District 35 was where she called home. But that isn't where she spent most of her time. She and a few of her friends spent their time "slumming". Dangerous, but Rael's spiritual pressure is usually enough to scare off trouble.

Her friends do it for kicks, to piss off the people of the lower districts, and to gain "cred". Rael has a different motivation. She goes there for the increased shinigami presence. She wanted to join the ranks of Sereitei, but she hadn't a clue about how to go about that. None of her foster family had an apitude for spiritual powers, and her friends were horridly weak. Simply asking one of her local shinigami was frightening, as she had no idea what they were like. All she knew was the crisp and clean image they conveyed, and the authority in their step.

Rael spotted her friends approaching, and she got up from her sitting position, and began her slide down the roof top. She slid right off the edge, and landed on the ground in a crouch. She looked up to see Daniel, the goofiest grin on his face, arms wide. Rael rose to her feet returning the embrace. Their bodies locked, and even a small smile crept up on her face.

Daniel let go first, and Rael stepped back, and gave him a look that said 'Really?' John, and Derrick followed close behind Daniel. John was the ringleader of this little group. He always got us in over our heads, He probably wanted to join up with one of these gangs that resided in the lower districts. Finally there was Derrick, sort of the pet of the group, he was a frail boy, younger than the rest of us by a couple of years, He had that look in his eye that always gave away his submissiveness. He was the victim of abusive parents, before he ran away. I'm fairly sure he lived with John now.

John was biting his lip to keep from laughing. Daniel had a good foot and a half of height on me, so I even when I stood on my toes, he still had to bend over to give me a good hug. He looked over the pair of us, and without a word, only a motion of the head, told us to get going. I fell in step with John, Daniel brought up the rear, and Derrick was behind me. Together, they set out for the lower districts.

Rukongai, the slums as he became accustomed to knowing them from hearing everyone else state so. The districts here were littered with middle-class citizens and pretty much poorer residents than all of the Spirit World. At least from what he knew and had seen of the Spirit World. Often times he went here to clear out Hollow infestations with a few friends, but now he thought it best to just patrol. It was not his Squads, 2, duty to do so, but yet as a Shinigami it was always his duty.

The multitude of endless streets and districts would leave any stranger lost, but Tim had been here quite often now. The streets and districts became very remember-able. As he stepped left foot to right foot, each going in front of the other. Tim was adorned in his usual attire; a white Gi with the Squad 2 emblem on his left chest, a red belt, sandals and even his blade on his left hip. His hair was a bit of a mess, but it was short and really unmanageable.

On one particular street, in between the 34 and 36 district, there was a group of ruffians. There was a youngling who led the pack of them, who looked much tougher than the rest; though still no match for a Shinigami. Two other boys of no real interests, sorta like followers and one female who was snug in the middle of them. As he approached the group he smiled. Of course his words might come off as rude, but that was often that children, to his eyes, mis-understood the older and wiser ones intentions.

"Greetings to you. Just what are you all up to?"

Rael pivoted to follow John, but she already knew there was going to be trouble. A shinigami was already headed toward their group. And usually they wanted for their little band to disperse. Doing that in Rael's neighbor hood was fine, but right next to her house, she had nowhere to go. "Shit", Rael said, just loud enough for her companions to hear it. Rael waited to see what John would do.

John, looked up, his eyebrows raised in suprise, or his best impression of it. "Greetings to you. Just what are you all up to?"

John replied, his lie as smooth as glass, "We're on our way to meet friends across town." The best lies have an element of truth to them.

Rael wasn't sure what to do about this shinigami, starting a fight with him would probably end badly. While he was over here, perhaps she would be able to ask about the academy. No. The group comes first. Rael hadn't discussed it with them yet, introducing it here to a possible foe would be a good way to earn resentment from her own friends.

She couldn't just stand by and let this conversation pass though. She crossed her arms across her chest, and she gradually let out abit more of her reiatsu. She could probably overwhelm him if it came to a contest of spiritual pressure. A fight though? No, He has a sword, and the magics known as kido. He was trained, and even with the advantage of numbers, he might be able to teleport as Shinigami were rumored to be able to.

She looked at Daniel, and gave a quick shake of the head, indicating her opinion of a fight. Even if John knew these things, he probably will fight anyway. One sign of not getting away with this plan and he'll explode with a ferocious burst of punches. But punches arn't very effective against a sword.

She didn't know what to do if it did come to a fight, but given how John was, and how nosy this shinigami was already, one was probably coming.

It seemed that the leader of the group spoke first or at least his own impression of the one who was their leader. Stating that they were traveling to meet some friends across town. It was not late in the day or anything so they were not breaking any curfew rules. By any means, Tim was simply just saying hello in kind. At that moment a spiritual pressure broke out from the group. He concentrated for a moment and the reiatsu seemed to be coming from the girl.

"Then be on your way, I have no qualms with you." He paused for a second as he raised his hand so the group would not simply walk past him. Tim shifted his eyes from the leader to the girl before speaking once more. "Perhaps you could spare a moment with me miss? I simply wish to exchange words with you." Tim could tell that the others were simple souls of no significant presence and that exposing her to the others might isolate her in the future.