Dungeons and Quincies (Closed/Arata)

The night sky was never so beautiful as it was when Hotaru walked beneath it. There was something so right about it. She wasn't supposed to be here, but she was, and that was awesome! Still, she was out for more than just enjoying the scenery. She had to fight ghosts and save the city. That was certainly going to be easier said than done, though. She didn't know of any haunting hot spots in the city, which meant all she could do was patrol the town looking for trouble. That was way easier said than done.

Usually, she had no issue attracting trouble, but when she actually searched for it, there was nothing. How was she supposed to get strong if the bad guys wouldn't show themselves? Minutes felt like hours. Some part of her wanted to give up and try tomorrow, but a louder part of her didn't want to return home in failure. "A few more blocks, and I'll find something." she said to no one in particular. What she was going to do once she found an evil spirit, she wasn't sure. That part wasn't important. Sure, her powers were vague and hard to understand, but she was above humanity! Surely that had to count for something in a fight. It occurred to her that she'd be fighting with her bare hands. "Oooh, wouldn't it be awesome if I fought ghosts with a baseball bat?!?!?" Hotaru squeed in excitement.

Still, fists were suitably cool, but she didn't fancy herself some martial artist type. No matter what, a hero had to make do with what they had. If someone needed help, she wasn't running for better tools. Minamoto no Yoshitsune would fight with a toothbrush if it meant saving people, and so would Hotaru.  Something seemed strangely familiar about the path she walked, but the poor lighting made it hard to tell where she was. She rounded a corner, and suddenly all became clear. "The library!" Karakura's public library would always hold a special place in her heart. As an avid reader, there were few places as great for her. Most of the people there were nice to her, which was always nice. No one ever questioned or laughed at her choice of reading material. If any place in Karakura was worth defending, this was it.

It was closed for the night, Hotaru knew, but why was their noise coming from around the parking lot? She didn't know what the noises were. She simply couldn't figure out what would be making them, but her instincts were screaming that it was a fight of the supernatural variety. This was her chance! She practically flew across the ground to the source of the noise, only stopping when she was close enough to see the sordid scene... An evil spirit and its would-be victim. "Sorry, pal, but the show's over! You're not eating anyone on my watch!"

Arata Sasaki stood with his back to the wall of the building. He had finally been cornered by this hulking vulpine creature as he prepared to depart on his bike. The one that had subsequently surveilled, shadowed, and sped after him over the course of a fortnight. Most disturbingly of all, he knew the behemoth was merely playing with its food. In all of its prowls, it had never tried to consume him. If it attacked at all, it was with shallow swipes. Enough to kill for a monstrosity its size, but not enough will to connect. All the while, it would stare with that menacing toothly grin etched into its mask.

Its curious nature had tempted Arata to speak to the mindless thing, though he doubted that was even a possibility at this juncture. Tonight was different from the others. The air was growing thick with the pressure of the hollow's malice and the light of the full moon brilliantly illuminated the contours of tensed black limbs as the shadows of its two swaying tails created patterns on the ground that only the truly enlightened could appreciate. The sickening reverberations of its bassy growls communicated to Arata that this was the final chapter of a story that wouldn't be found on the shelves that the man cared for daily.

Of a more pressing concern to Arata were the consequences of the Pyrrhic victory he self-assuredly imagined. Absurdly enough, what he was dreading more so than the wretch towering above him by several feet even on all four legs was the retching to come. He was already feeling lightheaded at the thought of fighting. What a macabre spectacle it was to utilize the remains of the dead for the maiming of the bloated wraiths others left behind. It was barely preferable to the alternative from Arata's perspective though nonetheless preferable.

Arata weighed his limited close ranged options, having never intended to get this up close and personal with the loathsome kitsune. All he had in his arsenal under these circumstances were risky retreats, draining distractions, and dizzying defenses. All it would take was a single opportunity to gain the ranged advantage.

It was then that a sudden bluster dispersed the daze of both combatants, if they could even be referred to as such. The dual ruddered canine turned about face to meet the leer of a voyeur. In that moment, Arata had disappeared behind a corner. Winded from the exertion, he paused to catch his breath as he mentally examined what had just taken place. If there existed a divine entity that did not loathe his accursed people, its countenance was certainly smiling upon him right now and he was thankful for both of the interventions. He had not observed his rescuer, but he had heard her voice. Worryingly enough, he could feel the subtle presence of her spirit at this distance.

This was worrying because he should have departed by now. Any Quincy could knowingly approach a hollow with that much bravado was equipped to fight. Alternatively, she had a wish to die. Either way, he had no desire to get involved. Yet, his feet remained planted. Maybe it was a simple intellectual curiosity. Perhaps it was the dearth of peers to talk about this secret world with. Possibly, it was because he recognized her, even if he was unable to remember who she was. Or it might have been how young he refused to admit she sounded. Shame and denial pulled his body in two different directions, paralyzing him.

Just feet away, the malevolent spirit stared down the young girl, snarling aggressively with territorial instinct. Then, it suddenly let out a deafening screech and began to crouch. Clear signs of a patience wearing thin.

The beast's anger was enough to turn Hotaru's courage into uncertainty. Sure, she was way stronger than she looked now, but was it enough? She found herself wishing she had that baseball bat. She wanted to run, but she knew she couldn't leave the poor library person to die. Something seemed familiar about him, but in the dark of night, she couldn't have been sure. Yet even if she didn't know him, she wasn't going to let an innocent die when she could help. Hotaru struggled to find a plan in her mind that would work, but nothing seemed like it would work.

She knew a thing or two about animals. They couldn't understand speech, and they got scared if you made yourself look bigger and didn't flinch. She quickly turned to the man she came to save. "Hey, do you have any fight left in you? Maybe we can take it down together. " She shifted her eyes back at the evil spirit. Hotaru Yoshitsune puffed out her chest and straightened her posture. Surely that would show the monster who the real alpha was.

She was outgunned, but not totally helpless. She was really fast, and if it pounced she could probably get out of the way, run to the guy, grab him and then launch some coordinated attack on the evil ghost. That sounded smart. If he was just really weak, she could just grab him and run too. She grabbed her magic necklace with her left hand as she prepared for the beast to move, so the next phase of the plan could begin.

Arata hesitantly leaned around the corner, his gloved hands braced against the dust and grime of the brick beneath. Normally, this would be an intolerable act even with nitrile protection. However, his disgust was suspended by the seeping dread that pooled in his stomach. An atmosphere of terror penetrated his pores and its epicenter lay between the hulking monstrosity and the girl, still seemingly resolute.

How close had he carelessly stumbled onto the precipice of such treachery that he could only barely find stable footing again? By no stretch of the imagination did Arata ever imagine himself to be a hero, but leaving a child to die at the clawed hands of a hollow went beyond simple cowardice and approached villainy. For the girl to even be involved in this intimate charade that he permitted was disgusting alone.

Suddenly, her gaze fell upon him, forcing him to avert his own in kind. He hurriedly nodded his response to her, but he had no real intention of actual collaboration. If he could just lure it away from her, he could handle this discretely somewhere else. He exhaled in anticipation and strafed away from the wall. Expeditiousness was imperative.

Arata's posture straightened as he extended both of his arms out in front of him and clasped his cross between them. Brine built in his mouth as drew in the reishi polluting the air around him. An arcing crescent waxed between his palms, exuding the type of pure white light that only an ability as morbid as the Quincy's could hope to emanate as ribbons of alabaster billowed off of Arata's bow towards him. In a swift motion he drew his bow, summoned his arrow, and loosed an attack more closely resembling a laser than an act of archery towards the target's flank. By no means a killing blow even if it hit its mark, it was his best shot without putting Hotaru in undue danger.

Nonetheless, he had at least expected to put a scratch on it. The spirit leaped backwards towards the library with a grace that went beyond reaction. Had it anticipated the attack? It went on to take a cursory glance at both of its adversaries before making an even more cursory retreat as its body blurred with the swiftness of its movement as it turned behind one of the building's corners.

As the departed soul made its departure, Arata closed the distance between himself and the girl. Now standing next to her, his bow was aimed at his place of employment, waiting for his assailant's return. His eyes flickered between the edges of the wall. He listened out for signs of movement. He focused on perceiving the pressure it exerted on its environment. It was gone. His ephemeral visitor had withdrawn once more. Consequently, it was certain to eventually return.

There were so many ways the situation could have gone. So many ways she could have won, but that wasn't the world she lived in. With a single shot of a bow made of light, the rescued became the rescuer. Hotaru had to take a minute to process what just happened. The emotions that welled within her were intense. She was glad the man was not dead. She bought him time or something, yet he had this awesome power, but all she had was the ability to see and vaguely sense spirits. She was new to this sure, but why was everyone she met better than her? It wasn't fair!

She wanted to save someone's life, not be saved! One was strength, the other was weakness. If she was about to die, that would have awoken some greater power within her. Suddenly, the man was standing next to her. "You've gotta be kidding me! What, that's it?!? It can't be gone now! That's not fair! I was going to..." her voice trailed off. She reached out but could only sense the man. She was almost certain she'd seen him around the library before, but his name evaded her. "How am I supposed to get stronger if my kills get stolen, book boy?" She balled her hands into a fist around her lucky necklace hoping for some wisdom to reveal itself. "You're like me, aren't you? Ok, you have to tell me how to do the bow thing!" Her voice was equal parts desperation and awe.

If she had a bow, she could fight hollows instead of watching others do that. To change the world, one needed power. It was all that mattered in life. She needed it, she wanted it. More than anything in her life, it was what she wanted. There was a sense of urgency within her, as in every millisecond counted and she had to get strong fast. She was wasting her life! Panic and anticipation made her heart beat like a snaredrum

Arata's arms swung to his sides as he began to slouch. Luminescent particles scattered from his open palms like a swarm of fireflies. The excited thrum of his heartbeat diminished to match the pace of his steadily decelerating panting. Even his nausea and lightheadedness was fading. How fortuitous it was that Arata wasn't going to be vomiting in an alley this evening.

So lost was the reluctant archer in the calm of the post-combat lull that he almost jumped when the teen began her tirade. Between the near disastrous start of the night, the residual dizziness, and the sudden commotion, Arata struggled to think coherently and could only stammer nonsensically as he held his hands in front of him defensively and began backing up a bit. His Quincy cross gently swayed under his left wrist.

"Well yes you see certainly first and foremost above all else it's worth noting that I'd just like to say that you have my sincerest utmost apology for the fact that it wasn't my intention to mean to try be at fault for..."

The barely coherent firestorm of words petered out as it was denied oxygen, giving Arata a brief moment to collect his thoughts as well as his breath.

"Oh, where are my manners? I haven't even properly introduced myself. My name is Arata Sasaki. I am a librarian for the Karakura Public Library. What's your name?"

He barely thought of the consequences of what he had uttered. It was how he began most conversations, even outside of the library. Plus, it would give him time to truly digest the implications of what she had just said.

The bookish man's response was more confusing than anything. For all the big words he used, it was positively mind-numbing to listen to as she tried to decipher some meaning from it. He spoke some actual sense when he introduced himself. Sure, it didn't remotely answer Hotaru's question, but it did confirm she knew him. She knew she'd seen him around here before, but she'd never spoken to him. "You can call me Hotaru Yoshitsune." she was glad they'd never spoken before. There was a different name on her library card. It was a name befitting a common loser instead of a magical hero like her.

"But you didn't answer my question. I've got a magic talisman too, you know. Is it some incantation that makes the bow appear?" It was important to show him her knowledge upfront. She wasn't some stupid kid. She was just really unlucky when it came to spirit stuff. Sure, she was really strong now, but there was so much she didn't know. If she was already coasting off of natural talent, as soon as she learned how to make her bow, she would be totally awesome! The spirit world would know her name!

Hotaru Yoshitsune. What a storied name. Before he could go off on a prosing tangent about the history behind that name, she very adamantly probed the man about his weapon once more. He supposed it was foolishly condescending to imagine she would get distracted that easily.

"No. Nothing like that."

Arata had begun fingering the cuffs of his rubber gloves in the same manner that he was speaking: absentmindedly. At this point, it was no longer a matter of whether or not he desired to contribute to a conversation regarding this subject matter. Was he even capable of doing so? It was trivial, certainly, but that alone did not intimidate him. The spiritual arts were in so many ways esoteric that he could barely fathom what language and verbiage he would use to describe this process. Arata began to speak once again, slowly and with uncertainty.

"If you wish to summon a bow, first you must try to absorb the spiritual particles in the environment around you. You can't see them, but they are all around you."

Arata's stomach began to turn, urging him to not go into any more details.

"In order to do that, you'll need to focus your spiritual energy to one point. You'll need a cross like this one."

Arata held up his left wrist to highlight the pentacle dancing under it.

"Not just any piece of jewelry will do though. Without the right tool for the task, this will be harder to do."

He said this, but his intuition informed him that these were empty words. He had no doubt in his mind that this necklace she has been clutching so hard was a cross though he presumptuously questioned what the point was of even entrusting her with something so valuable without teaching her how to use it. It surely was not his business to pry, but it also was not his responsibility to instruct her. He could imagine her coming to the library to beleaguer him at a later date and when he did, he ultimately realized where he had seen her before. By no means did he think of her as a loathsome person. She was an ideal patron of the library from his own recollection and did not cause any trouble. Admittedly, he even empathized a bit with her frustration of having no one to talk to about what went on in this town. Judging by her word choice, combat was not the only area of the supernatural that she lacked information in. Nonetheless, he saw an opportunity to escape this encounter without conflict and he had to take it.

"I'm sorry. I'm really not good at this."

He really meant that wholeheartedly. He had little confidence that his slapdash explanations would do any good.

"This is really something you should ask your parents about."

His explanation made sense at first. Spirit particles flowed through everything and bonded the galaxy together. Though him saying "not just any jewelry would do" was kind of pointless. Her necklace was magic. She could feel it.  So that meant all she had to do was just...make a bow. If it was that simple, she would have done it already. To make matters worse, Arata was already backing out of helping her. "I can't! My mom doesn't know anything about this stuff! I tried asking, but she thought I was stupid and got mad!"

The memory was a bitter one. She showed her mom the necklace, but all that did was make her really mad. "Can you just stop your games for once?" She was going to take the necklace too, but Hotaru started crying, and she thought better of it. Her mother didn't have powers. That was easier to believe than the idea that her mother was just lying to her. She was on her own, but starting from nothing was hard. That was why she needed to convince Arata to help her.

There had to have been some underground group of special-power-havers. He could at least point her to that. "Ok, I grab the necklace and...use the spirit particles. Anything else?" her voice was unsure, no matter how hard she tried to sound confident. What if she was just really weak? What if she couldn't make cool weapons? What would she do then? She didn't want to be a screwup here. She really didn't. Asking Arata something else would at least buy her a few seconds to think. She'd have to figure something out.

Half blood. To verify whether or not her mother's reaction was veracious was a variable he could not observe, but he could not dismiss such a probably conclusion. That particular wrinkle would be potentially problematic. Arata's father was never hesitant to express his distaste for the irresponsibility that he attributed to the birth of such unfortunate souls, if he was feeling charitable enough to call them that. With each dilution of the blood, there was a degradation. From natural born warrior, to highly trained hunter, and then to the Quincy equivalent of a McDojo graduate. Further beyond that, Hollow bait. Much like that tale, a bloodline often stopped there. Arata may not have inherited that prejudicial disposition, but never doubted the weight of his patriarch's words.

At best, she had a slope to climb. He preferred not to dwell on the worst case scenario. She should not be in the dark about this. Still, he felt obligated to hold his tongue. Something had changed in her demeanor. He supposed that he had struck a nerve bringing up her parentage.

"Nothing else. Just focus your spiritual energy into the necklace."

He gave a friendly smile as a show of encouragement. What a deceptively facile description. What other response could he muster to give? His thoughts kept drifting to his own training with his father so long ago. Excursions to the serene wilderness as a ripened sky made an idyllic backdrop against lithe trees. The air was rich with reishi to an extent incomparable to Karakura. Unreal imagery had Arata questioning whether or not he could trust his own memory. How many hours had the duo spent in near silence as the boy focused so intently on that piece of metal? How many hours had he spent in school or at home practicing in anticipation of the weekend? Just to hear that rare word of encouragement or advice.

He silently stared at Hotaru as he observed her efforts. He remembered when he learned what spiritual particles were. He remembered how his relationship with his father began to change. He began to feel sick. A finger penetrated the edge of one of his gloves, prompting him to remove both of them and stow them in one of his pockets. This wasn't right. She should not be in the dark about this.

"Does your father feel the same way as your mother?"

Hotaru Yoshitsune grabbed the necklace by the chain. If the pentacle-cross itself was what created the bow, she needed no interference. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Spirit particles were all around her. She had to trust in that. With her eyes closed, she could almost see them. They were what gave her power. She imagined them controlling her actions, but answering to her commands. At that moment, she needed the reishi to allow her to create her bow. She needed it more than anything. It was all she ever wanted. "Come on, be something cool...Like a light in the darkness!" Her necklace swayed in her hand, even though there was no wind. It was happening, all she had to do was keep it up.

"Please..." She reached out to the reishi, but found only silence. Hotaru could almost cry. She didn't want to be a screwup here too! Did the necklace really move? Was she just imagining it? "Come on, I've got to have powers! I'm not some side character! I'm not a loser!" she began to pace nervously. She took both hands and buried her face in them. As she did, Arata finally broke his silence to ask her about a certain dark subject in her life. Her father.

Hotaru was illegitimate, not that her mother had legitimate children to compare her to. Her mother thought she was being clever by not telling Hotaru about her father, but she could hear her mother talking when she was supposed to be asleep. He put a child in her and disappeared from the face of the earth. Memories of it still made her mother cry, but Hotaru had never talked to her about it. It almost seemed like her mother would rather Hotaru never been born at all...

"Oh, I, uh...I never really knew my dad." she avoided eye contact as she spoke. Hotaru wished she could be better at hiding her emotions, but sometimes she felt things too strongly to pretend to be anything else.  She hoped Arata would drop the subject. If she didn't think about her dad, she didn't think about her mom possibly not wanting her. If she could just pretend her dad wasn't the way he was, it was like it never happened. This was rapidly becoming too much. She wanted to run, but she couldn't. Arata knew things. He had to teach her. She couldn't just run back to normalcy, no matter what.

How inconsiderate of him. It was beyond his consideration and it seemed that he was not the only inconsiderate Quincy in her life if the role that other man played even qualified as a contribution to her life beyond the obvious context. Between the unknown pedigree of her father and Hotaru's readily apparent self-esteem deficiency, Arata's resolve to broach the hereditary realities in store for her weakened.

Fortunately, he did not have to. Hotaru's progress was astonishing to say the least. All of Arata's preconceived notions were dispelled as that chain dangled with power. It was not the most impressive expression of spiritual might, but it was far beyond what he had expected her to produce in a matter of minutes given her lack of experience or formal training. Besides, that conversation could happen later.

"Try grabbing the cross directly."

He was starting to smile. He was also start to feel sick. He grabbed a packet of powder from one of his pockets and swallowed it in a single, practiced gulp. If he was truly going to stand here watching over her until she could manifest a bow, he was going to need that medicine.

How unfortunate it was to be cast in the role of Hidehira on this moonlit night. If she was a lost child or a delinquent he could call law enforcement or civil services. That's what a sensible normal person would do. That's what Arata strived to be: a normal person as opposed to some sort of sordid supernatural warrior. Where could he take a girl like Hotaru though? Would he call his estranged mother to whisk her away to Tokyo away from her own mother?

Arata resigned himself to his fate, even if it meant that she'd be returning to the library each day to learn. Especially if it meant that she'd be returning.

"Come on...Come on!" Her voice was labored from focusing so hard. She grasped the cross itself, hoping against hope it would be that simple. "It's not fair!" She tried to use the spirit particles, but even while holding the amulet, the best she could muster was sparks of light blue energy. Sure, that was something, but it wasn't nearly enough! Her world was growing darker by the minute. Her lack of progress had ceased to be a matter of circumstance. Now, it was her own weakness.

She didn't want to accept it. "H-how long did it take you...with the bow, I mean. This is normal, at least, right? It isn't like I'm just doomed, is it? Right?" Hotaru was out of energy to put on some mask of coolness. She had half a mind to scream until her voice was gone and collapse and sleep right here in the parking lot. In some books, magic was tied to emotions. Fear was a potent one, as was despair. Yet she could create nothing from what she was feeling.

Arata yawned his response, courteously obstructing the view of his mouth with the palm of his hand.

"I recall being able to materialize a bow after approximately 6 months. A number of factors are liable to influence the amount of time it will take to perform this task: age, environment, heritage. In any case, manifesting a bow in what amounts to not even an hour is simply unheard of. By no means is your rate of progress abysmal."

Discretionarily, he refused to provide commentary on whether or not she could succeed. Given what he had observed, premature judgments were a folly. In spite of this, he would hazard a guess that if she continued making great strides at this pace, it would not even take her a third of the time that he had spent, if that.

"It's getting late. We'll have to continue this later."

With such baiting words vocalized, there was no turning back. Arata felt the tingles of anxiety wrack his brain as he began to consider the ramifications of his words. Would he ever learn his lesson?

Hotaru Yoshitsune ran over and hugged Arata. She wasn't defective! She finally had someone to show her around this wonderful spiritual world! Sure, he didn't want to continue the training all night, and 6 months was a really really long time, but her progress wasn't abysmal! She'd have this in the bag by the end of the week! "What about tomorrow? Can you do tomorrow...like after work?" She said, looking up from her hug, which she still hadn't released.

Finally realizing her hug might have been uncool, she backed off, cooly. "I, uh...Thank you." She said. She owed him that much. Not everyone gave her the time of day or night in this case. Yet he did and was willing to do so again. She wondered what crazy adventures they could get up together, but she'd have to save her hypotheticals for her dreams. She had an apartment to sneak into, and a meeting to look forward to. She would take what happiness the universe threw at her. "I'll be a super cool hero in no time! So, good night, see you soon!" It was important to say good night. That was just what one did when one departed to go to sleep at night.

For so long, Hotaru was the only one going through hurdles to accomplish what most people could do blindfolded. Maybe here, maybe in the spiritual world, she really could be talented! Not just normal, something great! It was a nice thought, and one that would see her through the night, and the next day at school. She was a padawan now, and soon enough she'd be a knight. The world was her's to grasp. All she had to do was reach.

"That's fine."

Arata had hoped that his friendly smile would compensate for his inability to return her affection. What an awful time to ruin his gloves. His arms hung limply at his sides until she had relinquished hold of him.

As Hotaru elatedly said her goodbyes and began to make her departure, Arata called out to her.

"Hotaru!"

"I hope that it would not be an objectionable suggestion for me to take you home."

Arata's reasoning was two-fold. With the two tailed Hollow still on the loose, he wanted to make sure that his new pupil made it home untroubled. Additionally, there was still much to discuss. If this relationship was to be anything beyond bearable, they would need to come to some agreement regarding certain ground rules.

Otherwise, he would have left her to her own devices. He had no intention of making sure that she was actually heading to her domicile. It would be dishonest of him to pretend that he did not care, but that went beyond the duty of a teacher or a librarian from his perspective. She was a tad too old for that type of doting over.

As he made his way over to the bike rack to begin the task of unshackling that had been rudely interrupted earlier, he gave a sigh of regret. Biking to work instead of driving had its downsides. Cycling would still have been more bearable than walking even if it was a short distance. Unfortunately, holding onto the handlebars was an impossibility without his gloves. He would have liked to assume that if she had arrived on foot than she must not have lived unreasonably far away. That was the fantasy that Arata had chosen to purposefully delude himself with. It was all that kept that welcoming expression on his face as he turned back to her, awaiting a response.

"Oh...I guess not, but we have to be really sneaky when we get close to the apartment building!" It wouldn't do for some idiot smoking on his balcony to see Hotaru and rat her out to her mother. Hotaru had been lectured on the dangers of strangers, but this was different. Arata was just like her. How could be do anything to hurt her?

"So...What do you do for fun? I mean besides reading..." If they were going to walk together Hotaru was going to learn more about her new friend. She figured it prudent to include the "besides reading" part because Arata worked at a library. His reading for fun was so obvious that she didn't need to know. "Ah hey, do you think a hollow will attack us before we get to my place? If it does you have to let me get a hit in!" Someone paying Hotaru any mind at all was not something she was used to. Sure, she had to act cool, but she had to take advantage of the time spent walking home together.

Arata briefly wondered if his own apartment complex was near hers. That had the potentially to be advantageous.

"I understand. In general, our actions must be secretive. The consequences of a stranger discovering us would be disastrous."

More so for him than for her, but that was besides the point. The library made for a suitable enough makeshift training ground, but it was far too conspicuous to be an appropriate venue for any extended period of time. Even as they began to walk, Arata felt on edge. If anyone questioned him, he could claim that he was escorting a young lady who was out past her curfew to her parents and that excuse would work exactly once if he was lucky. Without a doubt, it was imperative that they spent a weekend scouting out clearings in the forest.

That would probably be a fresh change of pace compared to how he usually spent his weekends. What were his hobbies besides reading? He liked to practice social drinking from time to time. As of late, he had been reading English blog posts detailing tales of the supernatural that were undoubtedly accurate. Those weren't exactly conversation topics he was in the mood to discuss at the moment. After a brief pause, he finally had a prudent response.

"On occasion, I enjoy riding my bike around town. Not only is it a great form of exercise, but it's an environmentally friendly alternative to driving."

Arata had been relieved when the conversation had started to veer away from the supernatural though that was short lived.

"Even if one did, I'd have to recommend that you avoid interfering. Until you finish your training, you have no business fighting hollows."

For Arata, his nocturnal visitor was a matter of negligence more than anything else. However, if it had chosen Hotaru as its prey instead of the other Quincy, she would have little in the way of offensive measures to deter the beast from any course of action. Karakura was getting more dangerous as time went on and the escalation of supernatural activity did not have a peak in sight. He had to give her a fighting chance before he could ever set her loose.

Nonetheless, he could not fault her for bringing it up. It was entirely possible and worth worrying about, even if she did not appear to be troubled by the idea. It also allowed him to segue into how he felt about her getting involved with more spiritual threats. Actually, everything that she had brought up were the topics that he had wished to broach. How astute of her to have also quickly picked out these three potential points of contention.