>>5265625You all finish up relatively soon after that, you feeling secure that your machinations weren’t for naught, and the others secure in their friendship. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up,” You say as you’re all leaving. “Should probably let the old man know I used some of his cash.” Drunk as they are, Kazeko and Shin begin to leave, but Tsukuya stays, looking worried. You sigh, before smiling and walking over.
“Are you sure you-“
You interrupted her by pulling her into a hug. “I’ll be fine.” You kiss her then, the first one between you that you’ve initiated, that fact not being lost on her as she begins to blush madly. “I won’t be long. I’ll come see you when I’m back. Go on, catch up with those two before they leave you behind.” She nods shakily, before going to join them, though not before taking one last look back. You wave, smiling sweetly, before your expression fades into a cool mask, you feeling serious for once, before you disappear in a flash of shunpo.
It’s not at all hard to find the 5th Division despite you having never actually been there before, the Divisions taking up so much of the Seireitei it wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate to call each one its own town or city.
You leap past the main gates of the Division, knowing getting in there wouldn’t work under pretty much any circumstance. Instead, you find a section of the wall that’s equidistant from both the Captain’s quarters and the main barracks, and hop over that, landing almost silently. You stand, looking around to see what you can find-
“You know, with shunpo like that, you wouldn’t be out of place in the Second Division. None of the regular rank-and-file even noticed you.”
You freeze, turning around to see the grinning face of Hirako-taicho. “What took you? I was expecting you yesterday.”
You blink, caught off guard. “You… knew I was coming?”
“Nah, didn’t know for sure.” He says, turning away and rummaging for something, before turning back to you, face-splitting grin still in place. “But I had a hunch. If ya really were the kinda guy I thought you were… You’d come.”
You sigh, before grinning yourself. “Well, you caught me. You gonna send me back?”
He snorts, throwing you a standard shihakusho. “Put that on, don’t want people askin’ why I’m taking a student around.” You oblige, since doing so would also solve a problem for yourself, letting you blend in, before you follow Hirako, the man seemingly just wandering through his Division.
“Why do ya do it?” He asks suddenly.
“Huh?”
“You know what I mean.” He says again, not looking back. “Why do ya lie and hide everything about yourself that you can?”
>”I dunno, I’ve always done it, I guess.” (Lie)>”Because it’s funny messing with people.” (Half-truth)>”Because there’s something I want.” (Truth)>Other (write-in)Feel free to discuss this one for a while as well.
