---

Night fell upon the small Japanese town tucked away in the central mountains of Japan, the cool breeze of the waking Spring undercut the heated tones left behind by the warm day. The smell of flowers still lingered in the refreshing night air, yet those who could see the unseen would feel unease stemming from below the surface. Shadows lurked at every corner and the watchful eyes of those robed in black would take notice, the unwary and the inexperienced would expose themselves and be cut down in the street, and then disappearing like ash in the wind.

Yet those that did not expose themselves, would become a looming threat that could yet be identified. Each night, signs of such would increase in frequency, the shadows that suggested a hidden foe, the leftover carnage of another hunter amidst the town's open streets, and the fear expressed by would-be prey. There was something more than just the usual quarry.

---

---

The small Japanese town of Sagamiyama had a population of around 300,000, it was situated somewhere in the Chubu region closer to the Kansai region. It boasted a beautiful mountain view, traditional shrines with history, and an easy trip to Kyoto, Osaka, or Tokyo by shinkansen. It was far enough away from the big city to be a quiet, peaceful town, but also has great access to the amenities and luxuries of those very same things. Truly a gem of a place to live.

Over the last few months however, a select few who had a run-in with death itself, were given a second chance, in exchange their souls and their lives were dedicated to helping the other realm, the afterlife, as substitute Shinigami they would help souls move onto the other world, and slay Hollow who threatened to devour them. Shinigami from the world beyond, Soul Society as they had called it, were there to assist and teach them. When needed for their duties on short notice, they would take a Konpaku that implanted their bodies with an artificial soul to act as their living counterparts, while their skills were needed elsewhere, and after such they would simply return to their normal lives.

Today was peaceful, a day to enjoy, because when night came, these fledgling substitute Shinigami would be forced to embark on a journey that had been forced upon them the moment they accepted the offer. A fate that may affect the three realms.

---

The coffee shop was still packed to the brim when Mitsuaki stepped out into the somewhat warm air of the spring day. Black apron firmly tied around his waist, he just needed a break; a simple five minutes to recuperate, catch his breath and his bearings, and then get back to work. Sure. Why did he even have this job?

To try to have some semblance of a normal life. Right.

It had been a month and a half, if his counts were correct. A month and a half since he had almost died, swallowed up by that monster. Ever since, his life was truly anything but normal. Training, learning how to fight and to defend others, with his newly granted shinigami powers. It had been too much at first, but now, Mitsuaki thought he was finally starting to settle into his new life. His double life. As soon as he had some semblance of hope, though, that he was finally beginning to learn how to live in this new light…

“Why’d it have to be me, Juno? Why couldn’t we have just switched places…” His voice spoke out to no one but the air, doubt clouding every word. Juno would have been perfect for this, he would have excelled at it, Mitsuaki thought. Here he was, struggling to still just grasp the situation of what had happened to him, even when the writing was on the wall everywhere he looked. Hitting his fist against the wall, he regretted it almost immediately.

“Hey!” Mitsuaki jumped as the door banged open, a rather large, angry looking man stepping out. “Mitsuaki! Get your ass back to work!”

“I’m uh…not feeling very good,” Mitsu rubbed at his sore, aching hand.

“Don’t care, get back inside!”

“Think I’d rather throw up,” he hated this job. He hated his boss. He hated the people that came in to get their vanilla latte’s, no whip, extra shots. Why couldn’t they just make coffee at their own damn houses.

“You get back inside or I’m writing you up!” His boss was steaming.

“‘Kay,” Mitsuaki went the exact opposite direction. He didn’t need this job. He could find another job; a job that paid more and didn’t have a horrible boss, or equally horrible customers. The tips weren’t even that good. Steaming, throwing out one curse after the other, Mitsuaki couldn’t help but break into a wide grin when his boss slammed the door behind him as he headed back inside. Leaving the apron on the garbage can, he was free to spend the rest of his day doing anything other than work. Maybe he’d roam around, hit the arcade, or see if anyone he knew was around. Anything but sit in his own head, and wallow in what could have been.

The alarm buzzed. A hand shot out from under the covers. The alarm fell silent. From under the covers a face emerged to stare at the ceiling above. With a barely audible groan the body levered itself upwards to wake up. A glance at her phone told Sara that she didn’t have school today. She could just lay back down and sleep the day away. That sounded ideal. She could just sleep and sleep and sleep and never wake up. In fact, she did lay back down on the futon, considering that course of action. And then she sat straight up as she heard a crash in the kitchen.

That would be her stepmother. The woman worried about her. Sara was even willing to bet that she worried more than her father did. It was … nice, she supposed, if not a little awkward. Sara wasn’t used to people worrying about her. Sara supposed that she could go to the gymnastic gym. There was little opportunity to go during that week and her stepmother had taken the time to find the gym for Sara, before Sara had arrived. That still sounded like too much work and too much effort. She still levered herself out of bed and moved to pack up the futon. The sooner she delt with her stepmother’s worry, the sooner she could be done with it for the day.

*_*

That afternoon saw Sara wandering the streets of Sagamiyama. She was carefully avoiding both a certain flower shop and a certain mechanic’s shop as she looked for a place to ‘buy a treat’ as her stepmother had insisted, she did after gymnastics and pushed a few bills into her hand. That had happened this morning as Sara didn’t eat breakfast. Sara rarely ate breakfast, avoided dinner with her father, stepmother, and two younger half-brothers, and lunch was hit or missed. So, that was another thing that her stepmother worried about. Sara really did want to find a treat to eat, because her stepmother was nice and a good woman, and Sara really didn’t like worrying her, but nothing seemed appealing.

Not for the first time Sara thought about letting the mod soul that she had gotten from that one Shinigami from the candy shop had given her about two months ago just have her body. The few times it had interacted with her family it had interacted with them better than she ever could. She was worried that Tatsuha and Hayasegawa would have problems with that. They had to be watching her. They had known about her drawings after all, and she wasn’t she that she would be able to tell when or how they were watching. Sara giving the mod soul her body seemed like something that would upset them. Not for the first time she wondered why she had said yes to their proposition two months ago. Being a substitute Shinigami hadn’t solved any of her problems and she was still no closer to seeing the places that she saw in her dreams and nightmares. Tatsuha and Hayasegawa kept saying ‘someday’ and that was starting to get frustrating.

Finally, she decided on just getting takoyaki from a stall that didn’t have a long line. There wasn’t much of it so it was easy enough to force down. It didn’t taste bad either and for a moment Sara debated weather or not she should get some more, but no, it was probably time to get home. She had just a little bit of homework to do before she went back to school, and it wouldn’t hurt to work on her Japanese a little bit either. Maybe she could get to bed early. Gymnastics had been strangely exhausting even though Sara hadn’t done much. She could just sleep and sleep and sleep and never wake up. That sounded ideal.

Retirement, Darius decided, was not at all what it was cracked up to be. Four months, since he had handed in his equipment and been left to run free. Two, since he had brushed hands with death, and come out the reaper. He'd been busy enough at first, filing all the paperwork, getting affairs in order, arranging the wedding. Now, with most of both done and settled, he found himself with an overabundance of free time that had gone from relaxing to mind numbing in short order. There were only so many games he could play, and only so much time he could spend sleeping in, before long standing habit and the simple realities of his personality demanded he make himself busy with something productive... At least, something other than the training that had been quietly undertaken, in that world nestled within their own, where spirits ran free of their bodies.

Exercise was an easy place to start, once the wounds across his midriff had sufficiently healed. It filled his mornings well enough- once his fiance went off to work. Weekends has been easy enough, too, once some encouraging words from his soon-to-be wife had nudged him into starting up a self defense class for the young adults and teens in the area. But, that left his afternoons during the week painfully empty, in the hours before she came home. Much to the polite suffering of his neighbors, he had taken up trying to learn guitar, in those hours, settled on his porch with a beat up old acoustic he'd bought in town across his lap, and instructional videos pulled up on his laptop, set in the vacant of the two rocking chairs.

It was there he could be found, fumbling his way through a lesson and gritting his teeth at every muted note or off key pluck, by the wandering youths as they went about their own lives. Darius had been a pleasant enough presence in their varied group training with the shinigami, always encouraging, if a touch loud. He'd made a point of inviting everybody to his little weekend classes, an effort to encourage comraderie and fitness among their growing group of misfit substitutes, as he put it. So too had he declared his door open to them all, whenever they needed it... Though perhaps there were better things to come across than his awful playing. Surely, he would improve with time.

Surely.

Still, if they did decide to make their presence known, he greeted them with a smile, quick to set the instrument aside- otherwise, it seemed unlikely he would notice them at all, so focused on his pained attempts to learn and fill the time.

Anthony "Tony" Adams-Himura

---

Why did i still work here? Tony asked this to himself, in many ways, it was repetitive, just tending some fat japanese appetite. he was walking from his job, ever since the "incident" he had begin to go during the midday, he certainly didn't want to be fling around like a trash bag any time soon.

He mostly tried to avoid his "friends", god knows what were they going to ask him, he could tolerate the mechanic, he seemed like a bit of a chill guy, though, he was loud, very loud. the clerk... we don't talk about her, she's too... familiar, in a way that Tony didn't really liked.

Once he reached his humble house, which i gotta say, it was not. his mother did get themselves a beautiful home, with some modern house aura around it. yet, it wasn't worth the price... it wasn't worth it at absolutely all. but well, another thing from his bone-chilling mother is that she really doesn't care about the price. at all.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home..." Tony said as he entered the house, he found his dad sleeping on the couch, well at least this didn't change when they moved to japan, his dad still has his "work" naps. once he passed his sleeping dad he found his mother drinking coffee on the kitchen. dynamic-wise they were doing whatsover, but you could say that his mother was the "breadwinner" of the house.

"Hello son, how was your job?" She was dry and cold, yet still showing a slight motherly-worry to it, in her own way of course.

"Fine mom, just the same thing all over again... this time midday of course." Tony sat down on one of the chairs of the kitchen, his hands quickly moved to his head, rubbing his hair lightly, he had gotten his blonde from his father, although it wasn't as light as his.

"Hmm... i recomend you should stop dying your hair white, you're already pretty much white in color." His mom took a sip from his coffee before standing up and patting his head like some dog. she has done this since he is a child, and it would waste time to explain how much did Tony hated this.

"I know mom..." He skipped the recomendation, not because he was uncomfortable with it, but because it was tired from the same thing being said at him, it was the 7th time on the week she has told him this, which makes him think it's maybe an order. her tone doesn't really change when she speaks.

Tony's mom. Hanako Himura, was like that. cold and serious, yet a bit different on the inside. it had taken a bit of time for Tony to notice this, even as her son.

She left to her room, leaving Tony in the kitchen alone. after a brief silence, he walked to his room, where he entered it, metting by the posters he had hanged on his walls, he walked pass them into his bed, where he collapsed, not from exhaustion, but because of how bored he was, these were the times where he wished that something would happen, it is weird, he never really likes that, but once he became a substitute shinigami, he has been having these "episodes", where he wishes for something, even slightest, to just happen.

Mikazuki Nakajima

Mikazuki Nakajima was happy. Happy enough to go cycling around town, eager to see his acquaintances in Substitute Shinigami-hood. Considering how he liked cafes, he decided to go for some coffee first and maybe talk with meet Mitsuaki, whom he knew worked in the nearest one.

Bad idea, as he witnessed the older youth walking out of his job in the coffee shop. Somehow, he did not think that Mitsuaki was the one in the wrong. But what should he do to help? Did Mitsuaki even want help? The boy knew that Juno Suzuma's death was one year ago, and he had gleaned enough to know that Mitsuaki had the look of someone who had lost his brother twice.

No, it was not his place to pry; the last time he, Mikazuki Nakajima, did that, he had found out his grandfather was a war criminal. He knew that it was highly irregular, even in these modern times, to side with a Westerner over his own flesh and blood, but Mr. Leonid and his squad did not deserve what had happened to them in that war far back in the last century - A war that still scarred Mr. Leonid and might do so all the way in the afterlife where Shinigami are from.

He cycled to try and look for Sara, finding her having just eaten takoyaki from his favorite takoyaki stall. Stopping his bike for a moment, he watched her go home, half-tempted to approach her, feeling that she needed help, but knowing full well he should not rush to do so - There was a fine line between concern and stalking.

Which was a shame; the two were just one year apart in age. If things had been different... No. It was always too late for regrets.

He decided to cycle over to Mr. Stone's house. Darius was a fun guy and he liked learning from him. Plus the American reminded him of how Mr. Leonid could have been if his grandfather, whose blood he inherited, had not inflicted horrors no one should go through, much less forced to see one's squad be subjected to.

The sound of acoustic music was as familiar as ever...

@WSilversun@LadyAnnaLee@Morgannis@Sho Minazuki

Anthony "Tony" Adams-Himura

---

"Screw it!" he said to himself, he was not going to just lay on his bed and expect something to happen out of thin air, Tony changed his working clothes (the which he didn't even got out of when he came to his house). he got into his "locked in" outfit, a red jacket, combat boots, and black cargo pants. once he changed in this outfit he began to walk out of his room, completely forgetting that in the case of a hollow attack his clothes were going to be those black robes.

"Let's see what's happening outside..." Tony opened the door to the outside of his house. nothing. nothing was happening, this was something expectable, yet why was he... surprised? he really wants something to happen, something to act like he acts, who would Tony be if he wasn't laid-back and just let everyone around him just talk and talk, only talking when he wants...

This, this wasn't healthy, he needs to talk with someone, yet who could be? the cl- nope. so it is the mechanic, fine, he will go. after all his work is to hunt hollows, or at least he understood that. Tony was gifted with this powers for some reason after all, not just to do nothing with them, this was like a job, but without the paying and all.

Once he arrived at the bike shop he noticed a man approaching, he had those clothes, the shinigami ones, he wasn't Ouga, at all, he was, actually who was he?

"Hey!!! who are you?" Tony really did not cared about the people that was around the streets as he shouted this to the man, they looked at him weirded out, what was he doing? they thought. and Tony, in his fashion washed this gazes like a stone in a river, though, this weirdly made him feel a bit good, all the way back on his school he acted quite regular for a teenager, he didn't really talked that much. this didn't apply to his current self. he can scream and still maintain that laid-back actitude.

---

Mindless wandering had driven him towards the bike shop, his mind in another realm entirely. Mitsuaki felt eyes on him at one point, head raising for a moment to scan the area, but the feeling was gone before he found the culprit. It was probably just his boss, cursing him from the cafe he hated.

Maybe he could get a job at that video store down the street; he’d probably have to work late though, if he worked there, and that wouldn’t do. That was the reason the cafe was so promising, the early morning hours being better suited for his extra-curricular activities. Then again, if he overslept and missed his shift, it would be just as bad as having to run out on a night job. Maybe getting a job with Ouga or Shouko would be possible; would they care if he were late for a shift, seeing as how they knew what could possibly go on in the lives of Substitute Shinigami’s.

A voice, practically screaming, pulled him from his thoughts. Jolting, Mitsuaki stood on edge as his eyes swirled around, looking for the man who it came from. Finding Tony, the young man blinked, his eyes shifted to quickly find Bokuto as well, decked out in all of his Shinigami glory.

Had there been a call? Was there a hollow around, were they supposed to be training at this hour? Mitsuaki didn’t remember any sort of training schedule for today.

Either way, the situation needed to be dealt with, before Tony did something that he would regret.

“Hey, Dingus!” Mitsuaki drew closer to Tony, hissing out. “Quiet down,” eyes narrowing, he glanced towards Bokuto as he stepped up closer to his substitute comrade, the one currently in a real body. “You know people can’t see him, right?” A hand raised to motion towards Bokuto, a slight wave that would look natural to people watching them; his voice was quiet enough now with the distance he was from Tony that only his two comrades would be able to hear him. Although there weren’t as many people around as say, if they were in Tokyo, there were still enough that this was becoming a scene.

“Go inside before someone calls the police on you,” not like he really cared what happened to the American. Mitsuaki stepped around Tony then, hand grabbing for the door into the bike shop, pulling it open and stepping inside. He had given his opinion, told Tony what he should do, but that was all he would offer. Ouga was probably already aware of what was going on outside; it wasn’t like they could just hide themselves from the stronger Shinigami, or that the man was deaf. The man would take control, if needed, and Mitsuaki wasn’t about to stand in his way of doing that.

In truth, to call Darius' early attempts at learning music was incredibly generous. While it was not quite so terrible as to say he was torturing that poor old guitar, it was certainly the flat, fumbling attempts of somebody entirely new to playing. Which was, of course, better than the outright caterwauling of his first week's attempts. Still, it was no doubt a great relief to the neighbors, and neighborhood cats, when Mikazuki's approach led Darius to set the instrument aside. Gravel crunched under the bicycle's wheels, still fresh laid and loose, and Mister Stone raised a hand in greeting, that always warm smile quick to draw over his features.

The gravel in the drive was not the only fresh addition around the home- before and after the incident, Darius and his Fiance had been hard at work bringing new life to the old home. Fresh paint, new shingles, new plants in the gardens. Bit by bit, the fixer upper was being restored. It was a wonder the soldier still found the time for teaching his classes and training, when the soon-to-be Mrs. wasn't home.

Darius waited for Mikazuki to climb off of his bike before speaking up, removing his laptop from the other rocking chair to make room for the youth on his porch, a clear enough invitation to join him on its own. His Japanese, while understandable, was still heavily accented- though his tone was always warm.

"Nakajima! What brings you over today- are the others all busy, or did you just feel like keeping an old man company?"

There was something almost comical about Darius referring to himself as old. He was the oldest of their little group, true, and technically retired, yet he was still shy of thirty himself... Even if his knees and back did insist on creaking and cracking at every opportunity. He beckoned again for Mikazuki to take a seat, in case moving his laptop hadn't been clear enough, and despite his apparent surprise, seemed quite pleased to have company.

"Did you want something to drink? Aiko left some tea on ice this morning, there should be plenty left."

---

The chance meeting of Bakuto, Mitsuaki and Tony was causing a fair bit of noise outside, part of which wasn't even audible to normal people. It was drawing some looks but nothing major, this was a rather quiet part of town afterall. Yet that fact would not stop an errant wrench from flying out from the garage and landing square on Bakuto's forehead. It would probably dawn on the other two that this physical wrench just managed to harm a Shinigami, and so as their eyes followed the point of origin, they would see Ouga standing there in a bit of a pose suggesting he threw it.

"It wouldn't be the police comin' after ya but me ya bonehead", emerging from the garage was Ouga. He had his mechanic uniform on, with the top removed and around his waist while he wore a singlet. His well toned physique was on display, oil and sweat marring parts of his outfit and skin. Somehow he had a wooden sword around his shoulder as he emerged.

"Well well, if it ain't Mitsuaki and Tony too, thought I heard some familiar voices. Rare to see so many substitutes all at once, you all eaten yet? The shop's still got some leftover sandwiches and onigiri from lunch", he motioned over to the lobby entry beside the garage with his thumb.

"And you Bakuto, once you get your ass up you can tell me about what you were doin' as a Shinigami... And what the hell is goin' on with your own body too, I hope you didn't leave the Konpaku for too long", afterall the main concern with Konpaku is someone might notice they're actually a different person... Eventually. It varies depending on what kind of personality the Konpaku turns out to be.

Collab between @Letter Bee and @WSilversun

Darius and Mikazuki

Mikazuki answered Darius: "I want to train - Well, that’s only part of it; I want to know you and the others better but I do not want to impose on people. So… How do I do so? All I know, I know from books.”

Darius hummed softly, leaning back in his seat at the question- all thought of getting up to fetch the tea forgotten instead of mulling over those words. How to connect with others… It was a complicated thing to ask or to learn. But then, so were most things.

“Books aren’t a bad place to start, really. People benefit from reading, makes them more… Worldly. A little more wise. Asking questions is the only way I know to get to know people though, whether out loud or to yourself. Sometimes they’re the kind of questions you need them to answer, sometimes they’re the kind that get answered just by watching. Either way it takes a little nosyness.”

He thumbed his nose for emphasis, flashing a grin.

“Can’t get to know people without imposing just a little.”

Mikazuki nodded, then asked, “So… how do we do this? Do we just talk with each other, or do we get straight to training? My family owns a dojo, so I know kendo.”

That got a laugh from the soldier, as he pushed himself upright, dropping into an easy crouch to start stretching his legs. Training was always a good idea, so far as he was concerned.

“Why not both? I’ve told you kids before, you need good fundamentals to handle yourselves, and if you can’t talk and jog, then they aren’t where they need to be. We’ll go for a little run, and you can ask anything you like. Just remember that not everybody will be so forthcoming- Some people don’t like having questions asked, and those are the types you have to get to know just by being around and paying attention.”

Mikazuki nodded, then said, “Yeah… I saw Mitsuaki run out of his job in the coffee shop earlier - somehow, I don’t think it’s his fault. Also, Sara was buying Takoyaki while looking worried. I decided not to approach them; it would be… what’s the word… intrusive? Pushy? But I am worried about those two, yes. So let’s go.”

Darius nodded in turn, knuckling the small of his back and bending until it gave a satisfying crack, bouncing on his toes for a moment- and taking off at a steady jog. He wasn’t terribly fast- in truth, since the injury that had led to this whole mess for him, he was rather slow, enough that Mikazuki would likely have no trouble at all keeping up. Still, he managed to talk on the go, leading the way into town at that easy pace.

“For now, you might be right. You have to build some trust with people, before you can go poking and prodding at what they’re thinking about. You’re a good kid, though, I don’t think it’ll take long before you’re all relying on each other enough that you won’t think twice about checking in.”

Mikazuki nodded as he jogged, feeling relief as he ran side by side with Darius, then asked, “So, tell me about your fiance? And also how did you become a Shinigami?”

Darius was all grins even at the mention of his fiance- It was almost funny, how clearly in love the man was, just the mention enough to brighten his whole mood. As if it hadn’t been bright enough already.

“Aiko? You’d like her, I think. She already likes all of you, thinks having kids to teach gives me something productive and healthy to do. She’s… Strong. In the literal sense, but also in spirit, like nothing in the world could knock her down. I met her through work, before I retired. It was a joint training group, our boys teaching your boys a bit about the kinds of weapons and tactics we each use, keeping camaraderie up. We do it with all our allies. That’s boring stuff, though, lot of politics and hum-drum training. The other question, though…”

He frowned faintly, a hand straying to his middle, where the wounds from that night were still healing. Faster than they should have, true, but still healing all the same.

“There was a kid. A spirit, I guess. Ran past me when I was out shopping, being chased by a big brute of a monster. A hollow. I’d never seen something like it before- Ouga says it happens that way sometimes, we mortal folk just… Get glimpses, the ability to see, out of nowhere. Something about spiritual pressure and triggers, the stuff he talks about when we’re training. I didn’t know all that then, of course. Just that the kid was running scared, and that… Thing was running after it. I put myself in the way. Wish I could say it was some kind of heroic thing, that I beat some manners into it, but really, I was as scared as the kid was- And the Hollow split me open like a piñata. You guys have those here? Cardboard animals full of candy, you whack ‘em with a stick and candy comes out.”

Mikazuki nodded, then said, “I watched a few Western TV Shows; I know what a Pinata is. And you survived? As for me, I just got hit by a truck - Oh, we reached the shop.”

And indeed they have.

@Sho Minazuki

Anthony "Tony" Adams-Himura

---

Tony jumped a bit at the appearence of Ouga, he decided to play it cool and just go right after the thing he was searching from him, and with a little drop of sweat falling from his forehead he told him this,

"O-Oh, Mr. Ouga, well now that you're saying all of that, is there any sort of stuff i can do with my cool spirit dude powers, y'know like kill those big mean evil guys, can i do that?" Tony's voicetone was a bit shaky, not from awkwardness but from the fact that even to himself this was a bit dumb, there were probably two things to do as a substitute shinigami, help souls and kill hollows, and both could fall under the same category so realistically there was only one thing to actually do, yet, it was better than whatever was Tony doing on his house, that being nothing.

There was a brief silence, maybe Tony did needed to go inside, with his nervousness growing, he began to walk into the entrance of the shop.

"Ok, We'll talk inside." Tony managed before passing through the door of the lobby entry that was beside the garage.

Sara knew she had decided to go home. She had homework to do, chores to finish, naps to take. Yet somehow, she found herself wandering around town, window shopping for some strange reason. Sara didn’t window shop much, but she guessed she didn’t really want to go home where her stepmother was worrying about her. It wasn’t like the woman was a bad person. Sara had no problem with her. Honestly, the woman, Himari, was a saint. She had graciously accepted the child of her husband’s one night stand with surprising ease. It probably helped that Sara was older than the relationship. Honestly the whole Tachibana family was welcoming, including her father, Kenji, and the twins, Shoto and Dai, her thirteen-year-old half-brothers who were menaces, but honestly their antics put a smile on Sara’s face almost 90 percent of the time.

They were all nice and the moment they found out about her mom dying and that she had no family in the states, they made room for her in their lives. Her father had flown over to help her figure out the legal stuff. The twins had moved into the same room without even having to be asked, so she would have her own space. Her stepmother had immediately started enrolling her in the same prestigious international school the twins were a part of and found her a gymnastics gym. Her last name may have been Nicholson, but the Tachibanas were certain she was part of the family. They had even built a little shrine for her mom. And that was the problem. Sara didn’t want nice; she wanted to be left alone.

Which might be why she found herself inadvertently heading towards the mechanic’s shop. Before she even turned the corner properly, she could hear yelling. Excellent, maybe, probably, hopefully. With any luck Tatsuha would be distracted by the yelling and she could just slip in unnoticed and hide in a corner for a little bit. That way she could be ignored, but when she went home, eventually, she could tell Hiimari (As her stepmother insisted Sara call her) honestly that she had spent some time with friends. It even seemed like the whole gang was here. Tony was the one getting yelled at by Tatsuha. Darius and Mikazuki were jogging up. She thought Mitsuaki should be at work, but apparently not. Bakuto was here as a Shinigami. Was there a Hollow? Sara hadn’t got an alert, and she did try to do her part. No one seemed worried. Well, Tasuha was ticked, but not at her and that was good enough for Sara.

She was just in time to slip inside behind the others. No doubt Tasuha knew she was there, but she hadn’t drawn any attention to herself and was planning to make herself mildly useful. It was easy enough to put her bag down in an out of way spot and then start taking water to the other few normal human mechanics and listen why they explained something or other that went completely over her head. It took skill and knowledge to know how to fix a car. Sara would admit that she was very impressed by all of the mechanics’ abilities. Once it was clear that she would only be getting in the way she retreated by her stuff and pulled out her phone to watch more sword fighting videos. She was lucky she knew which end to hold. Now, that her life, and the lives of others depended on her skill in that area, she spent way more time watching sword videos online then she ever though she would.

@Sho Minazuki

---

Ouga greeted Darius and Mikazuki, "well, more the merrier, Tony, Mikazuki, you two are welcome too", he waved the group to come into the lobby with him. One of the mechanics saw what was going on and being a rather quiet day decided to bring out some drinks to go with the sandwiches and rice balls. The other mechanics in the shop were actually aware of all the spirit stuff, and some were even just konpaku too. As the group entered the shop, Ouga began talking, seeing as Tony was one of the newer Shinigami here, perhaps just after Bakuto, he was happy to answer him,

"Yeah that's what you're training to do. A shinigami's zanpakuto is able to kill Hollow, but not only that, it disperses their spirit and sends them to Soul Society... Hm? Oh Sara's here too, I didn't see you come in at all, make yourself comfortable", he turned to look into the lobby to see Sara just making herself... Not quite comfortable, perhaps trying to fade into the background. He waved to her briefly as he walked in with everyone, letting them get comfortable.

---

Hayasegawa Shouko

"My, is this report correct?", she pursed her lips as she looked at the small letter in her hand. Shouko in her kimono which she wore for the flower shop, a rich pink with golden flowers embroidered upon it, with a black and red obi. There was a small blue bird sat upon the window sill, it had a distinctly ethereal appearance too, and seemed rather cartoonish, almost featureless, as the deliverer of the letter it stood by for until it could be dismissed.

"A concerning development if this is the case, very well... I will notify Soul Society of these findings, whether or not they act is not on me unfortunately, for they have their own issues to deal with", she closed the letter, before letting it burst into light blue flames, and with that the bird would fly away too disappearing into the sky. Not moments after this Shouko began to pack her bag, and closed up shop. A typical day for her was to work the store, then go out to the shopping district to buy any supplies she might need, this usually was something like food and drink among other necessities. She often did this herself as the konpaku who cared for the house had some rather unusual decision making skills for the current world.

Today though, she skipped all that and allowed the konpaku to do it, there were more pressing matters to attend to, first was sending off a message to Soul Society, and then... Well, she had to get to Ouga and gather all the substitutes for an impromptu meeting. The former would take a little preparation, but the latter she was able to do right this moment, as she made her way to the autoshop where Ouga 'worked'.

Part One of a Collab between @Letter Bee and @Morgannis.

Ouga’s Mechanics Shop

After he and Darius arrived at the Mechanics shop where Ouga was, Mikazuki approached Mitsuaki and asked, “Mitsuaki, would it be okay if we sparred? You sound like you need to let off some steam.”

Mikazuki knew that Mitsuaki did not trust him yet; why would he? So a longer, more heart-to-heart talk was not on the table. That’s why the boy asked him for a spar; probably in their Shinigami forms; despite Mikazuki’s training in Kendo, the boy was still sixteen to Mitsuaki’s twenty, and there was a physical difference.

He waited for the older youth’s reply, hoping it was received correctly.

Mitsuaki had found himself a nice wall to lean on, arms crossed over his shoulders while he waited for everyone else to step into the mechanic’s shop. He hadn’t expected this sort of crowd, though; was everyone here? With the arrival of Darius and Mikazuki, as well as Sara, yeah, it seemed like everyone was here.

Gray eyes cast themselves down to the floor, only snapping upwards once he was approached by the younger Mikazuki. A brow raised, quirked in interest at the proposal.

“You want to spar?” He repeated the question, before shrugging. “I mean, yeah, sure? Right now though?” Once more his eyes cast over the group. “Kinda want to eat first.”

Sparring wouldn’t hurt anyone; in fact, as Mitsuaki saw it, it would really only help all of them in the end. Training themselves, being prepared for anything that might come their way, stopping them from all being killed or eaten alive. Yeah. Sparring was a good idea.

Mikazuki searched his pockets but found that while he had cash - A good reserve of it - and his Smartphone, he had no food at all and only a bottle of water. He frowned at that, then said, “I… I only have cash, not food. And it might be too late to buy some. Do you have food? I already ate, though, so I can do without for a while…”

“Mmm, we don’t have to go anywhere,” Mitsuaki rubbed the back of his neck, raising a hand at one of the mechanics who had brought out a tray of rice balls and sandwiches. “Haven’t eaten since I got up this morning, so…” Trailing off, the young man inched his way away from Mikazuki, towards the free food.

Grabbing a sandwich, he glanced sidelong at the other. He couldn’t help but be reminded of the younger kids, back in the orphanage he grew up in; they were always seeking attention, actively going out of their way to try to find something to do with him, or the other older kids. It wasn’t the same, sure, but it felt the same.

Looking away when he caught himself staring a little too long, Mitsuaki bit into the sandwich. “Where do you wanna spar at?” He said, in between bites.

Mikazuki mused, “Well, my family’s dojo is too far, and I doubt Mr. Ouga would want us to avoid a potential meeting, so why not just outside? We can use Modsouls on our bodies and spar as Substitute Shinigami if you want?”

A thought then settled into him, and he looked intently at Misuaki and his body language, before saying, “That said… don’t feel forced to accept my request. I know we barely know each other, but…”

He decided to be honest, “I saw you argue with your employer in the cafe today. I don’t think you’re in the wrong; I’ve hung around long enough to know that you’re more than you look - It’s a small town, so I know quite a bit just from keeping my eyes and ears open. So I just want to say that if sparring helps you let off some steam, let’s spar. If you’d rather do something else, let’s do it. But, we’re all Substitute Shinigami now and I am not blind to how those of us who would accept such a destiny have all had our losses and traumas or something that pushes us to be more than what we are.”

The boy looked Mitsuaki in the eyes and said, “I want to fight - I want to spar. But only if it helps.”

Listening intently to the other’s words, Mitsuaki’s eyes narrowed towards the wall, his back fully turned to the younger man. “Don’t act like you know me,” his voice was low, sandwich lowering from his mouth. “I left because I didn’t want to be there. What are you doing, anyways, watching me?” His eyes shot towards Mikazuki, finally seeing what emotion he held in them. He had a good heart, Mitsuaki knew that, but still.

“Don’t talk about trauma. Don’t talk about losses. Just…” he was clutching his sandwich a little too hard. Looking away again, he stared out of the window, at the wall, at the ground; anywhere else other than another person. “I already said I’d spar with you. Just take that and leave the rest,” he took another bite of the sandwich.

Mikazuki nodded, knowing that an apology would do squat. He waited for Mitsuaki to finish eating, then went outside of the Mechanics’ Shop, hoping Mr. Ouga wouldn’t stop them, then consumed the Modsoul candy/marble, expelling his spirit from his body in Substitute Shinigami form.

Ouga wound up giving them some training swords.

Mikazuki Nakajima took the training sword, and his eyes glinted as he took a defensive stance, part of him feeling furious at himself for saying words that made Mitsuaki’s mood worse and part of him annoyed at Mitsuaki for snapping at him in such a way, even if it was deserved.

But he will fight, in order to prove that he was more than just some ‘cute’ but tactless kid.

As Mikazuki left the mechanic shop, Mitsuaki turned to watch him. Ouga seemed to sign off on their little makeshift spar. Fine.

Leaving the half-eaten sandwich on his plate, Mitsuaki followed after Mikazuki. Popping the candy in his own mouth, the Konpaku took over as his spirit separated from his body. The sword at his side was simple, except for the two small, wooden ornaments of a koi and shiba inu attached to it.

Taking up his own wooden sword, eyes narrowed at Mikazuki, he lunged towards the other to make the first strike. Mikazuki was right about one thing; the elder boy wanted to blow off some steam. He wasn’t exactly sure how much this would amount to, but at least the offer was up there to try.

Mikazuki grinned as he parried the lunge (Miraculous Parry), his kendo training, and the Zanpaktou’s supernatural qualities melding together to ease him into the fight. He struck back the very next second with a flurry of blows, although only the first one was boosted by his ‘Counter’ technique (Counter).

Observers can notice that one, Mikazuki was practiced at this, and two, the kid liked fighting.

The boy grinned as he prepared for his opponent to attack once more; his flurry of blows had petered out.

Wood clashed against wood as his sword was parried, only making Mitsuaki more rash. Jumping back, trying to get away from the flurry of blows that came his way, he let out a light ‘tsk’. Mikazuki was a lot more skilled than he was; the boys training in kendo doing wonders for him. No matter how you looked at it, Mitsuaki was extremely outclassed, although the older boy would never admit it. Maybe he didn’t even realize it himself.

A frown further tugged at Mitsuaki’s face as he lunged again, trying to dart around Mikazuki, in an attempt to get beside him. If he could, a knee to the side would be better than a slash in the face.

Mikazuki had a Kido he wanted to test out, so he took the knee while trying to parry any slash. Staggering several steps back, the boy activated his Kaidō, concentrating the Healing Arts on his own body to mimic the effects of constant regeneration.

His next words were, “I’m going to try and keep Kaidc active for as long as possible; I want to test how effective constantly using it in a battle works. Is it okay if you, umm… what’s the word? Help me test it out. I don’t think you’ll seriously hurt me beyond the minimum needed to test out this sub-technique; You’ve proven in this spar that you’re a kind guy, Mitsuaki.”

He smiled warmly at that; every word of that last phrase was sincere.

Clutching the wooden training sword tighter in his hand, Mitsuaki clicked his tongue again, feeling the power of the Kido that Mikazuki used. “So you just want me to attack you?” He took a step closer. Training swords or not, it was probably going to hurt, but at least they would just be bruises. This wouldn’t be considered bullying or anything, would it? Mitsuaki wasn’t the nicest guy in the world, but he drew the line at bullying someone four years his junior.

“Just say when, then,” a smirk was slow to cross his face. If Mikazuki was trying to test out his Kido, maybe it would be a good idea for him to test out the skills that he was training, too. A new goal formed in his head; knock Mikazuki off his feet.

Suddenly, the young man was springing into action. Sword held low, he ran at Mikazuki with all of the speed he had. Closing the gap between them, his sword moved to thrust towards the chest of the other. Directly after the thrust, Mitsuaki put all of his strength into his attack, swinging upwards, and finishing up the Hirazuki skill that he had been taught in training. If he were lucky enough, one blow would be all that he needed to knock Mikazuki off of his feet and onto his back, winning him his makeshift game.

Part Two of a Collab between @Letter Bee and [@Mogrannis].

Ouga’s Mechanics Shop

Suddenly, the young man was springing into action. Sword held low, he ran at Mikazuki with all of the speed he had. Closing the gap between them, his sword moved to thrust towards the chest of the other. Directly after the thrust, Mitsuaki put all of his strength into his attack, swinging upwards, and finishing up the Hirazuki skill that he had been taught in training. If he were lucky enough, one blow would be all that he needed to knock Mikazuki off of his feet and onto his back, winning him his makeshift game.

Mikazuki almost fell before the force of Mitsuaki’s blow; for a second, his feet lifted off the ground before the boy regained his footing. He smiled; his Miraculous Parry just barely held, but his exhalations showed that with his inferior amount of Reiyoku, Mitsuaki would eventually get the advantage.

But Miakzuki wasn’t in this to win, he was in this to give Mitsuaki a good time.

Tch, of course that didn’t work. Mitsuaki jumped back, his feet guiding him around Mikazuki, looking for any sort of opening that the other might give him. Lunging forward, the older male took swipe after swipe at the younger, just trying to break his defenses down for now. If he could wear Mikazuki out, maybe he could knock him down.

That idea may actually work; Mikazuki was using fancy footwork to try and evade Mitsuaki’s swipes, but he was worried that the latter may not be enjoying the fight, and that wore him down more than just the physical efforts of continuing to avoid his opponent’s blows - No, don’t get distracted, Mikazuki, just don’t!

A blow connected and was barely parried by the boy’s training blade. Mikazuki, to conceal his distraction, counterattacked with a flurry of cuts and slashes, still not knowing if Mitsuaki was enjoying this…

When the other counterattacked, Mitsuaki raised his blade to deflect, before he hopped backwards twice to avoid the rest of the attack. His face was full of nothing but concentration, giving no insight into his true feelings or thoughts. If anything, there may have been a flicker of frustration in his eyes, but it was gone in a second as attack was launched with his body lunging back towards Mikazuki.

Blade positioned to the left, Mitsuaki made it look like that was where he was going to attack from the left, before quickly darting right in an attempt to confuse the other boy.

Mikazuki would not normally have fallen for such a cheap trick, but his head was no longer in the game, and so this time, he was knocked back, flat on his back. His tactic of using a constant flow of Healing Arts on himself worked to clear up any bruises and pain, but right now, it was obvious to anyone that he was confused, lost, and just did not know what to do and how to continue.

He believed that he failed - Mitsukai seemed to be more annoyed than ever.

“Hell yeah!” Mitsuaki threw his arms up, sword held high in the air, as Mikazuki landed on the ground. “I won!” Even if he hadn’t proclaimed the rules aloud, he had, indeed, won. A wide smirk was worn on his face, gray eyes full of triumph.

Slowly, his arms lowered down to his sides, and he sauntered over towards the kid. “Good fight, Mikazuki,” a hand was held out, offered towards the other to pick him up from the ground.

Mikazuki’s look of confusion changed to a smile as he let Mitsuaki lift him up, his frustration changing into happiness when he saw that for now, Mitsuaki was happier.

He gave a short bow to the older youth, just… happy - Happy he had helped.

“You don’t…Need to be so formal,” Mitsuaki rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from Mikazuki, before he waved it off. Really, they were comrades now, right? “Anyways, I’m going back in,” without waiting for the other, he moved back towards the shop, very much done with their spar.

It was a nice distraction, for sure, and he was a firm believer that practice was the key to success. They wouldn’t be able to grow strong and protect anyone they cared for if they just sat on their asses all day.

Plus, it did help release at least a little bit of steam.

---

Perhaps it was a bit of a surprise to a couple of the people present, but Ouga actively encouraged self improvement. In fact when Bakuto explained that he was practicing, he gave him a hearty pat on the back, maybe one that was a bit too strong that almost sent him toppling, "you're more diligent than I thought!" He would say. Did he think Bakuto was just some slacker? Well, that wasn't a hard image to imagine in any case.

All the same this applied when Mitsuaki and Mikazuki wished to have a little sparring match, Ouga was rather quick to throw them some spirit bokuto, which Shinigami could use. It was still a little strange to see, considering no one but them could see these, and they were just piled among other equipment. Shouko had once said it was concerning that Ouga was so nonchalant about not putting them apart, but it wasn't like non-spiritual people worked at this autoshop anyways.

When the sparring was under way, Ouga was there to make sure things didn't get out of hand, and to his surprise they were pretty solid on fundamentals. Making use of the techniques they learned, and keeping a cool head. They were still a little sloppy here and there, but nothing unusual for a newbie. Making good progress as they say. As soon as it was over, Ouga got up and walked over to the pair, and began to give them some pointers, "not bad, Mitsuaki you need more confidence in your strikes, even if you're up against someone more skilled, conviction can overcome some of your hurdles. Mikazuki, you're too arrogant, as you use Kido you should maintain a calmer mind. In a true fight, your kindness may even be the end of you. But you can heal people, you have the option to save the kindness for afterward". Ouga's explanations were pretty succinct, he was almost a different person while teaching, seeming more eloquent, at first it shocked some of the people here but

"My, my, who is this crazy man talking to the air in the middle of an empty road? I might have to call the police... Perhaps he needs help", the sound of a silky voice cut through the conversation as a beautiful, white haired woman in a pink kimono had arrived to the scene, bearing a small woman's carrying bag among a few other items. She looked to the side at the entrance of the auto shop and to the front.

"An impromptu training session?"

"Ooh, Shouko, venomous as always. Nah things just settled like this, everyone turned up. Maybe because it's a weekend?", Ouga turned around to answer her, he was used to her words by now. Shouko pursed her lips,

"Hmmm... Whatever the reason, this has been a convenient turn of events. Come, you two and...", she looked over to Bakuto who was sitting in his Shinigami form over by the autoshop, "him... Return to your bodies at once, and go inside. I have something to tell everyone today... Or rather, before tonight", with that, she walked towards the shop to go inside herself.

Before she entered though she stopped by Sara, and knelt to her side, "it is good to see you out and about dear, I do hope the day has been treating you well. I will be inside if you need anything", for some reason she was kinder to the young lady, but tended to be a bit cold to everyone else. With that, she entered the autoshop.

---

Meanwhile... @BladeSS4

The Konpaku that Bakuto had left behind in his body was suffice to say, an eccentric individual. This artificial soul was a performer, and so in front of the store since he had left, he had neglected all work and was instead doing tricks on one or multiple bicycles, drawing a massive crowd. When Bakuto had finally returned, the shop owner was beaming due to the massive increase in sales today. Although... Because of all the neglected and added repairwork, Bakuto would have to be here until the late afternoon and then return to the autoshop for the meeting.