Daggers and Diplomacy: Saskia and Masaru's joint mission

Saskia wandered the halls of Squad 6. Hrm... Where the hell was the captain's office? She was already... five minutes late. Damn it! She could practically hear Xarath chiding her on her tardiness. Hrm.... she needed to avoid him... Didn't want to get a talking to.... or wind up late because she was chit-chatting... So, she rounded a corner AWAY from Shiru's office and... AHA! THE CAPTAIN'S!

Walking up to the door and giving it a swift knock, Saskia cleared her throat. "Captain Shirakwa! It's Saskia Taraka, Vice Captain of squad 2! I'm here to report for a joint mission." She said, twiddling her thumbs outside of the door. She'd never spoken to the captain, although she'd certainly hung out in his squad enough... She wondered if he was going to be unhappy with her for always making his vice captain late.

Masaru heard the knock at the door, listening as the woman introduced herself. So she was here, Masaru looked at the clock; she wasn't too late, so it wasn't really anything to worry about.

"Come in." He said, shuffling some of his paperwork into a neater pile before placing them to the side. The two of them had been given a joint mission together. He'd not interacted much with her, but he'd seen her around. She and Xarath were friends from what he'd observed, but he'd never spoken to her himself.

She looked at the door. Okay... At least it wasn't as stressful as all the other captain's she'd met.... She opened the door and stepped into the office. "Vice Captain Saskia Taraka reporting sir!" she said with a salute, before walking over to the desk and sitting down. "Sir, I'm reporting for the joint mission we're to complete together. I look forward to working with an officer of your caliber." She said, saying whatever seemed nice and professional at the moment. She fidgeted a little in the chair. "Um, Captain Shirakawa, if I may ask, what are the details of our mission?" She was still curious what sort of mission they would send the vice captain of the spec ops and the captain of human world affairs on...

"It's mainly information gathering." He replied. "They want more information on spiritually aware humans. They want to know the extent of some's abilities and have it documented." He took the single paper lying in front of him and handed it to Saskia, it noted the mission and gave it's details. "We're likely to have to speak with some of them, but for the most part it's just observation."

He then offered a kind smile, "I'm sure it'll be simple task, we'll just have to locate suitable humans to gain the information from."

Hmm... Information gathering... on humans? Not hollows? She visibly relaxed. "I'm... actually quite relieved, Captain Shirakwa. I thought for sure we'd be hunting some dangerous hollow, or stalking a powerful enemy..." she said, smiling for the first time since she came in. "I know I'm in spec-ops but... I just don't have much of a fighter's spirit..." she said with a tiny shrug. "I like this mission though and I'm looking forward to working with you." She said, putting her hand out to shake the captain's hand. Her whole demeanor had suddenly become quite pleasant, as opposed to the nervousness of a moment ago.

Masaru nodded, "I'm sure it'll be a pleasure working with you." He replied, shaking Saskia's outstretched hand. "And don't feel bad, I'm not one to enjoy fighting either. I only do so if it's necessary."

"If you're prepared with can leave whenever you'd like." He continued, "I have everything prepared on my end as well."

He had his zanpakutou at his side and the two daggers he tended to bring on all of his missions. That was all he needed since this mission was only meant for the day.

She stood up, nodding and giving a salute. "Yessir! I have my zanpakuto right here!" She said, gesturing to the naginata on her back. "It's an unusual sealed form, but I promise it's reliable, sir!" She said. She smiled, although she wondered if the captain was always so... professional... when she was told she'd be going on a mission with another officer, she'd hoped... well... it was stupid and naive, but she'd hoped to make a new friend. She mentally smacked herself. DO NOT SAY SUCH SILLYNESS! IT IS SILLY AND PEOPLE WILL POKE FUN!

"I can leave at your convenience, sir." She said with another curt nod.

Masaru gave a small chuckle, "Alright then, we can get going." Saying that, he stood and walked out from behind his desk."

As they walked through the halls of the Sixth, Masaru was beginning to find the silence a bit...uncomfortable. "So, you're friends with Xarath?" He asked, hoping to pique a conversation with the Fukutaicho.

She followed the captain down the hall... wihy was he being so quiet? Did he not like her? Why would he get her instead of Captain Ketsuken? Well... The captain was probably busy... but still this didn't seem like something he'd need her for... sure she was stealthy but more people would just make them less stealthy as a whole... Maybe.... Maybe this was not legit? Oh god... what if Captain Shirakawa... Was going to KILL HER... Oh no.. Run away, Saski! Run away! You need to -

"Eh? Oh... Yeah... We met uhhh.." She thought back to how they met... "On... On personal leave. Yeah!" That sounded believable. Nope.. TOTALLY did not meet Xarath on a blind date that ended with them passed out in a random squad... nnnnope.

Masaru knew how'd they met, knowing that a small smile appeared. He was glad Xarath had gotten a friend out of that meeting. Masaru wasn't a fan of actual arranged dating, but he'd wanted Xarath to have some fun, to meet more people and see if he could make friends with them.

It'd been a success from how things had gone afterwards.

"I'm glad you two became friends." He said, not going into asking her any other questions on that personal leave answer.

"Um... yeah..." She mumbled... Damn it, she needed to fill up the void with conversation or she'd start coming up with more insane theories. Like maybe... He wasn't Captain Shirakawa, but a hollow who could take a shinigami's form and he was leading her off to kill her and take HER place so he could steal Captain Ketsuken's underwear. THE FIEND! She threw a fist out and popped the captain in the arm. It was a light punch but it would still sting. Why? "Um... I'm... I'm sorry." Lie, fool. LIE! "I uh... thought you were a hollow?"

Masaru winced slightly at the sting her punch had caused, noticing how she backed away soon after and apologized, explaining how she she thought he was some hollow.

He tried not to laugh at the accusation. A hollow? Just what was she so nervous about?

"Taraka-Fukutaicho, if there's something on you conscious just say so." He said, giving her a reassuring smile, hoping he could at least help in calming her nerves. "I'm not going to bite you."

She frowned, feeling more then a little dumb. "I'm... I'm sorry Captain Shirakawa... I just... Haven't ever gone on a mission with another captain... I.." she crossed her arms, pursing her lips just a bit. "Well... I mean it's not like I mean to show insubordination... Just... I'm.. worried about being formal... I guess." She cleared her throat and decided the floor was exceptionally interesting at this precise moment. Maybe she should hit him again, just get thrown off the mission. Hrm.....

"It's fine, really." He said, his voice kind. "Just relax, there's no need to act so cautious around me." He wasn't like most nobles, he wasn't some uptight rule-crazy noble like most of them seemed to be. He knew he was just a symbol, as the elder's made most of the decisions. He was, in a way, just their puppet.

Soon, they reached the Senkaimon. On the other side they would exit out into the main location of the mission.

She sighed. "Okay.." she said with a nod, walking towards the senkaimon with him. A little closer to the gate, she cleared her throat. "So... I know I introduced myself formally, but... If you don't mind.." she put her hand out. "Saskia Taraka...." she said with a cheery smile, hoping that the Captain would accept her handshake. "If we're going to go on a mission I thought.. um... maybe we could be friends... and not just coworkers?" She practically felt her heart stop as she waited for a response.

Masaru nodded, and took her outstretched hand once more. "Masaru Shirakawa." He introduced, returning Saskia's smile.

He liked her attitude, going on a mission could be rather dull when one was simply going with a coworker. If they could become friends it would make the mission much more enjoyable. They would at least be able to converse more and not just talk about what should and should not be done.

Saskia smiled as the captain shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Masaru. You can call me Saskia.". She said pleasantly. "So... Tell me a bit about yourself... Hobbies... Likes... That stuff?". She asked as they approached the Senkaimon. Stepping up to the gate, she entered the waiting room with Masaru. A few minutes later they arrived in the human world. Stepping outside she sighed. "Gotta love the air here..so crisp.."

Hobbies...

Once through the Senkaimon, Masaru nodded. "The air is is rather refreshing." He replied, "And hobbies and likes..." He thought. "I like the night air and stargazing." He added, thinking of some more stuff, "I suppose readings also a hobby of mine." He rubbed the back of his head a little, a sign of nervousness. He wasn't really sure if what he was saying really mattered. She asked to know about him, but he honestly didn't find himself all that interesting. "I like talking with others, as I couldn't really do that when I was younger; I was too busy being trained to take over as clan head and captain. So now that I'm able to it's nice to have a conversation with others every once in awhile."

She listened to everything he said, nodding, making mental notes. "Well, we have night air and stargazing in common." she said with a warm smile. "I also like reading and talking. See? We're becoming fast friends already." she said, although her voice was not devoid of nervousness. Hm.. what was that about at the end... clan? Wait.. "Wait, Shirakawa... you're the heir to one of the noble houses, aren't you?" She asked, a little wide eyed. "Huh... Shows how much I pay attention to seireitei politics."

Masaru gave a light chuckle, "Actually I took over as head of my clan when I became a captain." He replied, "The Shirakawa's are one of the great noble families, so we're involved in quite a lot. It's my job to set a good example for others, give my family a good name as head of my clan."

It was a heavy job, one that caused it's own weight of stress. He was fairing fine though, well, that's what he thought anyway...or hoped at least.

She looked at Masaru and frowned. "I couldn't handle that kind of stress." She said, with a sigh. "I mean, hell, I barely handle the stress of being a vice captain as is... although some of that might have to do with my captain..." she trailed off with a sideways glare. "But yeah... lucky me, I'm just a poor kid from the slums." She said cheerily as they kept walking. "Anyway, I'm sure you're doing a good job. Otherwise Xarath wouldn't work with you."

"It does get pretty stressful, but I get by." It was certainly a lot more freedom than he used to have. So in a sense, he enjoyed it. He hated being used like a puppet but at least he could go about as he pleased in a sense.

"Rukongai is a pretty rough place, huh?" He asked at Saskia's mention of the slums. "I do my fair share to help out some of the surrounding districts but the districts are in such ruins..." He shook his head, "I hate how hard that place is on it's residents. I can never bring myself to lie to a plus soul when performing Konso. I can't tell them they're going to a better place because the Rukon Districts just seem worse."

He thought of how Nozomi used to live there, how much she trouble she must have faced before he took her in. Those thugs, thieves, and just the crueler residents in general.

"I hope I'm doing a good job." He replied, "Xarath said the same thing sort of, when I asked him if I was doing a good job."

"Yeah, the rukongai was... interesting... rough is a good word... but it was so much fun... everyone in our district treated you like family... or well... they tried to mug you, but I had help with that." she said, continuing without explaining more about that. "But... ehh, not like you can build skyscrapers in the rukon... And I'm glad I joined the academy just... I wouldn't trade in my memories for a safer place." she finished with a shrug.

"And you are doing a good job... I pick up patrols sometimes to help out with hollow hunting... Honestly, most of the time I don't even SEE a hollow. You guys have this place pretty well locked down.."

"I see..." Some people did have memories they'd rather not give up, that he knew. Life was hard there, but not for everyone. The majority though, the ones without spiritual abilities had it hard. "Yeah, you can't exactly do that." He replied to her skyscraper comment. "The most I've been able to do is help clean some of the stores or repair some of the buildings."

He listened to her as she mentioned the hollows, feeling a little happy at her compliment.

"Thanks, we try."

"Yeah... it's hard but... it's a hard situation.. you have so many people showing up, all over the place with no real way to organize who goes where? How COULD you fix it?" she said with a shrug. "But I guess that's not my problem... I don't.. really learn much about the world. I should I guess... I've just always been more interested in what's right in front of me...I guess you could say I'm a simple girl." She said with a grin. "And hey, just lending a hand is enough... I would've killed to have a hole in our roof fixed for us."